Chong Wei clear first round of Japan Open

PETALING JAYA: World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei cleared the first round hurdle against China Masters runners-up Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand but top Malaysian doubles pairs Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong were sent packing from the Japan Open badminton championships in Tokyo yesterday.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong, the bronze medallists in the world championships in Hyderabad last month, were beaten 16-21, 20-22 by Japan’s Kenichi Hayakawa-Kenta Kazuno in 32 minutes. Although they led 11-4 in the second game, the world No. 2 pair failed to force a rubber game.

The defeat by the world ranked 16th pair from Japan marked the first time this year that they failed to clear the first round in a Super Series event.

Malaysia’s hopes for the men’s doubles crown now rest on another world championship bronze medal winning pair, Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif.

The duo slogged to beat Thais Songphon Anugritayawon-Sudket Prapakamol 21-18, 22-24, 21-16 in 53 minutes to earn a second-round match against Chai Biao-Zhang Nan of China.

Doubles chief coach Rexy Mainaky was disappointed with the performance of Kien Keat-Boon Heong, who reached the Japan Open final in their first appearance together in 2006.

“Hopes of an all-Malaysian semi-final in the absence of third seeds Lee Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung (of South Korea) in the bottom half of the draw has been dashed. Koo-Tan didn’t play well,” he said.

Chong Wei brushed aside Ponsana 21-9, 21-15 in 34 minutes to earn a second-round match against Simon Santoso of Indonesia.

Chong Wei is seeking to win the Japan Open title for the second time in three years after losing to Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the final last year.

He is the only Malaysian survivor in the men’s singles competition. Veteran Wong Choong Hann lost 21-16, 13-21, 12-21 to Park Sung-hwan of South Korea.

Wong Mew Choo kept the Malaysian interest in the women’s singles alive with a 21-9, 16-21, 21-14 win over Taiwan’s Cheng Shao-chieh. She will play against Eriko Hirose today for a place in the quarter finals.

Mew Choo stands a good chance to advance further following the elimination of top seed Zhou Mi of Hong Kong, who lost 17-21, 21-18, 18-21 to Adriyanti Firdasari of Indonesia.

Women’s doubles top seeds Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty received a first-round bye and will play against Thais Savitree Amitrapai-Vacharaporn Munkit for a place in the last eight.

First round results

Men’s singles: Lee Chong Wei (Mas) bt Boonsak Ponsana (Tha) 21-9, 21-15; Simon Santoso (Ina) bt Hsieh Yu-hsing (Tpe) 21-18, 21-6; Soni Dwi Kuncoro (Ina) bt Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Tha) 21-14, 21-16; Chen Long (Chn) bt Ahmad Rival (Ina) 21-17, 21-13; Taufik Hidayat (Ina) bt Chan Yan Kit (Hkg) 21-9, 21-18; Andrew Smith (Eng) bt Pei Wee Chung (Mas) 21-13, 21-14; Park Sung-hwan (Kor) bt Wong Choong Hann (Mas) 16-21, 21-13, 21-12; Kenichi Tago (Jpn) bt Ng Wei (Hkg) 21-6, 21-7;

Bao Chunlai (Chn) bt Hong Ji-hoon (Kor) 23- 21, 21-16; Shon Wan-ho (Kor) bt Joachim Persson (Den) 21-13, 21-13; Kashyap Parupalli (Ind) bt Takuma Ueda (Jpn) 21-17, 12-21, 21-11; Peter- Gade Christensen (Den) bt Rajiv Ouseph (Eng) 21-12, 21-16; Sho Sasaki (Jpn) bt Kazushi Yamada (Jpn) 21-12, 21-15; Nguyen Tien Minh (Vie) bt Christian Lind Thomsen (Den) 21-13, 21-9; Koichi Saeki (Jpn) bt Mao Fujita (Jpn) 21-13, 22-20; Kazuteru Kozai (Jpn) bt Rei Sato (Jpn) 21-17, 21-14.

Men’s doubles: Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) bt Cho Gun-woo-Yoo Yeon-seong (Kor) 21-17, 23-25, 21-16; Halim Haryanto Ho-Flandy Limpele (Ina) bt Sun Junjie-Tao Jiaming (Chn) 14-21, 21- 11, 21-15; Hiroyuki Endo-Shuichi Sakamoto (Jpn) bt Wesley Caulkett-Soshi Tamiya (Jpn) 21-9, 21- 8; Hwang Ji-man-Shin Baek-cheol (Kor) bt Yuya Komatsuzaki-Ryota Taohata (Jpn) 21-14, 21-16; Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen (Den) bt Takeshi Kamura-Takuma Ueda (Jpn) 21-11, 21- 17; Luluk Hadiyanto-Joko Riyadi (Ina) bt Candra Wijaya-Rendra Wijaya (Ina) 20-22, 21-17, 21-9; Alvent Yulianto Chandra-Hendra Aprida Gunawan (Ina) bt Yoshiteru Hirobe-Hajime Komiyama (Jpn) 21-15, 21-15; Ko Sung-hyun-Kwon Yi-goo (Kor) bt Rupesh Kumar-Thomas Sanave (Ind) 21-12, 21-16;

Chai Biao-Zhang Nan (Chn) bt Chen Hungling- Lin Yu-lang (Tpe) 22-20, 21-16; Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari (Mas) bt Songphon Anugritayawon-Sudket Prapakamol (Tha) 21-18, 22-24, 21-16; Mohammad Ahsan- Bona Septano (Ina) bt Rei Sato-Shu Wada (Jpn) 21-19, 21-13; Yonathan Suryatama Dasuki-Rian Sukmawan (Ina) w.o. Jung Jae-sung-Lee Yong-dae (Kor); Howard Bach-Tony Gunawan (Usa) w.o. Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen (Den); Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata (Jpn) w.o. Maoni Hu He-Jeremy Liu (Nzl); Kenichi Hayakawa-Kenta Kazuno (Jpn) bt Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong (Mas) 21-16, 22-20.

* Matches in other events involving Malaysians

Women’s singles: Wong Mew Choo bt Cheng Shao-chieh (Tpe) 21-9, 16-21, 21-14.

Posted by Lucas Liau on 9:09 AM. Filed under News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0