AUCKLAND, New Zealand - It was unsure she would even play the 2010 season, but in its very first week she proved why that would have been a catastrophe. Yanina Wickmayer's year got off to a winning start, as she won the third Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title of her career at the ASB Classic.

In the last week of the 2009 season Wickmayer was dealt a one year ban from the Flemish Anti-Doping Tribunal due to the Whereabouts Rule, where she failed to report her whereabouts for drug testing three times; she appealed and just a few weeks later the ban was overturned due to insufficient justification.

One of the game's brightest rising stars was reinstated into the mix and already the winner's circle, as a No.3-seeded Wickmayer plowed through the draw without the loss of a set, beating No.1 seed Flavia Pennetta in the final, 63 62.

The top sides from Ukraine and Russia are the final confirmations for the upcoming club tournament in football in Marbella 3-12 February 2010. Shakhtar Donetsk will kick off against Norwegian Molde FK on 3 February and CSKA Moscow enter the group stage against Swedish IF Elfsborg on 4 February.

Lee Chong Wei defended his title in style but it was Wong Mew Choo who started the ball rolling as Malaysia swept three of the five titles at the YONEX-SUNRISE BWF World Super Series Masters Finals 2009 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

This means it’s the second consecutive year that Malaysian shuttlers have won three titles in the Masters Finals. However, last year, Malaysia won the men’s doubles title instead of the women’s singles title.

For Denmark, it was a case of so near yet so far as only Joachim Fischer Nielsen-Christinna Pedersen won the mixed doubles title with the men’s doubles pair of Carsten Mogensen-Mathias Boe and women’s doubles pair of Kamilla Rytter Juhl-Lena Frier Kristiansen disappointed in the finals.
In the women’s singles, Malaysia’s Wong Mew Choo once again used her strong rally game to subdue the challenge from Juliane Schenk.

Mew Choo mixed her game with lobs, drops and clever net play to engage the German in long rallies and slowly wore down her opponent to win in straight games, 21-15, 21-7 to win the biggest pay cheque of her career, US$40,000. Schenk received US$20,000 for her efforts.

“I am going to treat my teammates and coaches as they have been instrumental in helping my career,” said Mew Choo.

“Without their help, I will not be here today as they were pillars of support to me even when I was injured.”

Following up on Mew Choo’s victory, the women’s doubles pair Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty lived up to their top billing in the Super Series ranking when they beat Rytter Juhl-Frier Kristiansen 21-17, 21-14 to win the title.

Eei Hui-Pei Tty also won the title last year.

But it was the men’s singles match that drew the loudest cheers as Chong Wei was in devastating form to deny Korea’s Park Sung Hwan the title.

“I was playing with a lot of confidence but after winning the first game, I was too eager to finish off the match. This led to some mistakes and I allowed him to catch up,” said Chong Wei after his 21-17, 21-17 win over the Korean.
“After the Olympic Games in Beijing (2008), my form took a dip but I am very happy with the way the year has progressed.

“I’ve won six titles and now the Masters Finals title as well. As such, I am pleased with my performance.

“But next year, I plan to be more selective in choosing the tournaments I want to compete in order to focus on major events.”

Despite his status as World No 1 for more than one year, Chong Wei has yet to win the World Championships or Olympic title.

In the day’s first match, Fischer Nielsen-Pedersen beat V. Diju-Jwala Gutta 21-14, 21-18 to claim their biggest prize money, US$42,000.

Fisher Nielsen was delighted with the win and said winning the title was the best way to end the season.

“We will be playing at the Copenhagen Masters at the end of the month but winning the Masters Finals is a great way to end the season,” said the Dane.

“It is a pity that some of the top pairs are not here but in today’s mixed doubles, there are seven to eight pairs who can win the title.

“I rate the Koreans (Lee Yong Dae-Lee Hyo Jung) as the best mixed doubles pair in the world right now and that is our aim – to beat them.”

In the men’s doubles, Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae atoned for their disappointment last year when they beat Mogensen-Boe 21-15, 21-15 to lift the title.

“We were disappointed to lose in the final last year, and as such, we were fired up to win this year,” said Yong Dae.

“There are many good pairs in the world and we have to be on our toes all the time. But this win is a good way to end the year and also a good motivator for the coming season.”

Lee Yong Dae was the man of the day in Shanghai, scooping both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles titles, ending his 11-match losing streak against Zheng Bo, but Jan Jorgensen’s superb run was brought to an end by China’s Lin Dan.

Yong Dae and Lee Hyo Jung of Korea, the world’s top ranked pair and title holder in Shanghai certainly had one thing in mind – to beat their Nemesis Zheng Bo and Ma Jin, who, this year, beat them four times and deprived the Koreans of three titles. Needless to say that the mighty Koreans were eager to put an end to the “Zheng Bo” curse – who with his former partner Goa Ling, beat the Koreans seven times previously. But on Sunday, it was the Koreans who got the better start. Yong Dae and Hyo Jung took the attack earlier than their opponents who took a bit of time to get the engine going. It was a close fight, but the Koreans won 21/19 in the opening game.
The second game was much better for the hosts, with Ma Jin excelling in defense and Yong Dae’s attacks losing a bit of power. On many occasions, her cross court flat defenses outwit the Koreans and the Chinese were back in the game with a 21/14 win in the second game. The third game couldn’t start better for the world’s best as Yong Dae/Hyo Jung soon led 6/0, with a chance to lead 7/2 when the former smashed an easy high shuttle mid court right into the net. However, the Koreans kept the pressure on their opponents who avoided lifting shuttles and played a very tactical game – one that had worked so many times before. They switched side with a five-point margin at 11/6. Then again, the Chinese outpowered their opponents with Zheng Bo giving everything he had to crawl back into the game. At 15/15, it was all square again and Hyo Jung was showing signs of frustration as she probably felt they might have let their chance slip again. However, Zheng Bo started committing errors and as Yong Dae’s seemed more focused than ever, the Koreans managed to succeed where they had failed so many times before and finally ended the curse with a bright 21/19 – 14/21 – 21/19 victory.

In the last match of the day, Lee Yong Dae was back on court, this time trading the blue for yellow jersey, and Jung Jae Sung as a partner instead of Lee Hyo Jung.
Facing them, Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong of Malaysia for a mouth watering match. And the outcome didn’t disappoint the fans, with a very enjoyable game to watch and to play. Both pairs obviously enjoyed staying on court as they spent no less than 1hour and 16 minutes – the exact same time of the mixed doubles – fighting like crazy. Rallies lasted as long as the best women’s double as both teams defended superbly and the power put into the attack was fading as time went by.
After winning the first game, the Koreans led 19/17 in the second game, but the Malaysians managed to get on top and clinch the second one 21/19. In the third, as both teams were obviously teasing each other with long lobs, Lee and Jung stayed on top but once they reached 20/14, they were not able to score for another 5 points, until, at last, the last shuttle was killed by Lee. It was all over for that fantastic match. Jorgensen learnt a lot from his final against the world’s best player at the moment. The good news is that he will probably get to play against Lin Dan a lot more with the kind of level he showed all this week. The bad news is that the Chinese has announced that he was now targeting the 2012 London Olympics. Not a bad news for everyone – just his opponents – as once again Lin Dan proved what a fantastic player he was to beat the Dane 21/12 – 21/12.
“He’s fast, he’s clever, he’s just an amazing player and I can’t see any weaknesses in his game,” were Jorgensen’s words, full of respect for the top Chinese.