Chong Wei, Beng Hong left standing
News 3:36 PM
PETALING JAYA: It was a miserable start to Malaysia’s campaign in the season-opening Super Series badminton championships with only world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei and Kuan Beng Hong left to carry the challenge after the first round of the Korean Open in Seoul yesterday.
Super Series Masters Finals women’s singles champion Wong Mew Choo came down with a bump in the morning session when she was eliminated 21-10, 10-21, 11-21 by second seed Zhou Mi of Hong Kong.
Besides the Super Series Masters Finals crown, Mew Choo also went on to achieve another career high when she captained the Malaysian women’s team to end a 34-year drought in the SEA Games in Laos last month.
But the early-round defeat in the season opener is a quick reminder of how much work she has to put in to bridge the gap between her and the top ranked shuttlers.
Mew Choo had won the first game but her netplay let her down as Zhou Mi clawed back to pull through in 51 minutes.
National singles chief coach Rashid Sidek hoped that Mew Choo would bounce back strongly in the Malaysian Open next week.
“We are not surprised over her defeat by Zhou Mi, who is a very strong player,” he said.
“Although Mew Choo won the Super Series Masters title, she is still not at her peak form. But there is hope for her to give a better challenge in the Malaysian Open.”
Top seed Chong Wei showed ruthless form in demolishing Andrew Smith of England 21-4, 21-14 in just 24 minutes to set up a second-round match against Marc Zwiebler of Germany.
The impressive early start should bolster his confidence as he looks forward to making a perfect start to the year in the absence of Olympic and world champion Lin Dan.
With only eighth seed Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand and third seed Chen Jin of China standing in his way to a place in the final, Chong Wei’s chances of bagging a first Korean Open title look good. He reached the final last year but was beaten by top Dane Peter-Gade Christensen.
Kuan Beng Hong lived to fight another day when he slogged to beat South Korean Jang Young-soo 25-23, 18-21, 21-16.
However, Beng Hong will have an uphill task today against Korean No. 1 Park Sung-hwan.
Compared to a tame defeat by Christensen in the recent Copenhagen Masters, Chong Wei Feng put up a much better performance yesterday in losing 19-21, 17-21 against the defending champion.
Tan Chun Seang failed to get the better China’s Du Pengyu, losing 15-21, 16-21 in 39 minutes. He was the only Malaysian to come through from the qualifying tournament as Liew Daren and Mohd Arif Abdul Latif fell by the wayside.
Malaysian interest in the men’s doubles also came to an end with the exit of independents Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen. The eighth seeded pair, who left the national squad last year, were beaten 19-21, 16-21 by Taiwanese Fang Chieh-min-Lee Sheng-mu.
Malaysia top national doubles pairs are staying home to get better prepared for their home Open.
Men’s singles: Lee Chong Wei (Mas) bt Andrew Smith (Eng) 21-4, 21-14; Marc Zwiebler (Ger) bt Przemyslaw Wacha (Pol) 21-11, 21-16; Boonsak Ponsana (Tha) bt Hu Yun (Hkg) 21-17, 21-11; Peter-Gade Christensen (Den) bt Chong Wei Feng (Mas) 21-19, 21-17; Hong Ji-hoon (Kor) bt Sho Sasaki (Jpn) 13-21, 21-17, 21-14; Chen Jin (Chn) bt Hsueh Hsuan-yi (Tpe) 21-8, 21-10; Nguyen Tien Minh (Vie) bt Joachim Persson (Den) 22-20, 21-16; Chen Long (Chn) bt Chan Yan Kit (Hkg) 21-19, 20-22, 21-9;
Dicky Palyama (Ned) bt Shon Wan-ho (Kor) 21-14, 19-21, 21-17; Du Pengyu (Chn) bt Tan Chun Seang (Mas) 21-15, 21-16; Kazushi Yamada (Jpn) bt Wong Wing Ki (Hkg) 21-15, 22-20; Bao Chunlai (Chn) bt Kim Sa-rang (Kor) 15-21, 21-13, 21-8; Kuan Beng Hong (Mas) bt Jang Young-soo (Kor) 25-23, 18-21, 21-16; Carl Baxter (Eng) bt Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Tha) 21-8, 21-17; Park Sung-hwan (Kor) bt Lee Cheol-ho (Kor) 21-17, 21-15; Rajiv Ouseph (Eng) bt Eric Pang (Ned) 20-22, 21-9, 21-16.
Men’s doubles: Fang Chieh-min-Lee Sheng-mu (Tpe) bt Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen (Mas) 21-19, 21-16; Songphon Anugrityawon-Sudket Prapakamol (Tha) bt Baptise Careme-Sylvian Grosjean (Fra) 22-20, 13-21, 21-19; Hiroyuki Endo-Yoshiteru Hirobe (Jpn) bt Ingo Kindervater-Johannes Schoettler (Ger) 21-12, 21-11; Yong Hoon-jin-Kim Dae-sun (Kor) bt Hsueh Hsuan-yi-Lu Chi-yuan (Tpe) 23-21, 21-14;
Ko Sung-hyun-Yoo Yeon-seong (Kor) bt Howard Bach-Tony Gunawan (Usa) 21-13, 21-16; Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata (Jpn) w.o. Ruud Bosch-Koen Ridder (Ned); Alvent Yulianto Chandra-Hendra Aprida Gunawan (Ina) bt Kenichi Hayakawa-Kenta Kazuno (Jpn) 21-15, 21-13; Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen (Den) bt Choi Yong-hyun-Jang Sung-ho (Kor) 21-14, 21-14;
Guo Zhendong-Chen Xu (Chn) bt Seung Il-choi-Kang Ji-wook (Kor) 21-11, 21-15; Kim Ki-jung-Shin Baek-cheol (Kor) bt Naoki Kawamae-Shoji Sato (Jpn) 21-10, 21-14; Kasper Faust Henriksen-Anders Kristiansen (Den) w.o. Choi Young-woo-Jun Yong-hyun (Kor); Chai Biao-Zhang Nan (Chn) bt Christopher Adcock-Robert Blair (Eng) 22-20, 21-16;
Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng (Chn) bt Cho Gun-woo-Kwon Yi-goo (Kor) 21-17, 21-11; Chung Eui-seok-Kim Dae-eun (Kor) bt Lee Haeng-ham-Toby Ng (Can) 19-21, 21-13, 23-21.
* Matches in other events involving Malaysians
Women’s singles: Zhou Mi (Hkg) bt Wong Mew Choo 10-21, 21-10, 21-11.
Mixed doubles: Jung Jae-sung-Lee Kyung-won (Kor) bt Gan Teik Chai-Anastasia Russkikh (Mas-Rus) 21-13, 14-21, 21-15.
Posted by Lucas Liau
on 3:36 PM.
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