Toyota Gazoo Racing Thailand Open Reflection and Singapore Open Build Up: Adam Hall
By RJ Mitchell
ADAM HALL has admitted he is hungry for revenge as he and partner Alex Dunn prepare to meet World No.10 ranked Korean pair Choi Sol Gyu and Kim Won Ho in the HSBC WBF World Tour Super 500 in Singapore.
The Scots lost a thrilling three-setter to their Korean opponents in the second round of last week’s Toyota Gazoo Racing Thailand Open 23-21, 11-21, 18-21.
That defeat came after a fine win straight-sets victory for Hall and Dunn against the German duo of Lamsfuss and Seidel, who had beaten Adam and Alex in the final of the Europeans last year, which hinged on an epic 25-23 second stanza victory for the Scots.
Yet the ensuing defeat to the Koreans has done nothing to dissuade the Scottish champions that they have the game to beat their top-10 ranked opponents in Singapore tomorrow.
Reflecting on all of this Adam said: “The second round loss to Choi and Kim still hurts a lot as we put ourselves in a really good position to win that one and were 9-3 up in the third set but we didn’t take the opportunity and got really punished.
“They are top-10 in the world and to be as close to them as that is pretty good but it was one that got away.
“We are now at the point where we want to win multiple matches at these tournaments and not just one round and we were so close to that. So it stings a little but it was a good follow up from the week before and we have kept the momentum going but now we have Gyu and Ho again and the chance for revenge.
“We definitely believe we have the game to beat them, we beat them in straight sets at the All England a couple of months back and we had the game to beat them Thursday but the sides were very different in terms of the drift of the hall and the side we finished on was a bit trickier to play our own game and they dominated that half.
“So we will see what the hall in Singapore is like this week and if it is as windy but we need to stick to our game plan and take the chances when they come and not let them back into games we almost have in the bag.”
Yet Adam remains pleased with his partnership’s consistency this year: “Our level since January has been really strong and the consistency has been good and there have only been maybe two matches we have dropped off in, so there are no pairs in the top-20 we can’t beat.
“We just need to put it all together and get that really deep run and hopefully this could happen this week in Singapore.”
Adam and Alex have also been selected for the European Championships which is something he admits will bring a new dynamic into play for the duo: “It was a difficult task making it into the GB side as we needed to focus on staying top-4 in the European rankings which was tough. There was a Danish pair who were right on our heels up until the last qualification tournament and there was only a thousand points in it.
“It will also be a different experience competing for Team GB for the first time as we’ve only experienced playing for Team Scotland but we are looking at going and challenging for some medals for GB.”
Turning his attention to the mixed doubles this week, Adam and Julie MacPherson will face the Hong Kong duo of Lee Chun Hei Reginald and Ng Tsz Yau.
As he shared it is a draw that the Scots favour: “It is a Hong Kong pair this time and Alex (Dunn) and Ciara (Torrance) played them in Orleans last year.
“They are experienced and have some good quality so it will be a tough match but this is one of the better draws we could have had. Hopefully we can pack all the positives from the last couple of weeks into this first round and get the win, it will be tricky but we have the game to beat them.”
Although Adam and Julie just missed out on GB European Championship selection they recorded a career best victory in Thailand last week when they beat World No.4 ranked Seo Seung Jae and Chae Yu Jung 21-14, 16-21, 21-18.
Looking back on this success Adam said: “Afterwards it was almost more shock than being pleased, as it was definitely our biggest win by a very large margin.
“To be fair they got to the semis in the mixed and Seo Seung Jae won the men’s doubles (in Malaysia) so there may have been fatigue in there but they also didn’t adapt to the hall the way we did.
“So even although it went to three sets we should have closed it out in the second as we were 14-10 up and had a bad run and lost our feeling but that made it made it sweeter to come back in the third and get our rhythm back. In the past we have thrown away a lead and failed to get it back so to keep our composure and close it out against a top four pair was just hugely pleasing.
“That said against the Japanese in the next round we were not happy with our performance and from being 15-10 up in the first set they figured the right way to play us and got their tactics spot on and we didn’t have a counter for that.
“But the Japanese are playing very well right now and we learned a lot as we came up against a type of game we hate and going forward we must be able to deal with that particular style. So there is plenty to work on in training in that respect.”
Taking stock of a frantic period of action Adam is more than happy with the swing of things and he said: “The last two weeks have been very good and we’ve won some very big games and to have made second round in both events in consecutive weeks is very good and something I’ve never done from Super 500 up.
“So personally speaking I am playing really well now and I need to use that to get further in these tournaments and be making quarters and semis.”
Also in action in the women’s doubles this week Ciara Torrance and Julie MacPherson face the Japanese du of Rui Hirokami and Yuna Kato.
In the women’s singles Kirsty Gilmour will face Canada’s Michelle Li.