Lee advances to second round of M'sia Open
Published on: Thursday, April 06, 2017
Kuching: Malaysia's ace singles shuttler Datuk Lee Chong Wei advanced to the second round of the Celcom Axiata Malaysian Open badminton championship, here on Wednesday after winning his first round match against England's Rajiv Ouseph. Chong Wei took 42 minutes to see off the Englishman 21-16 and 21-18 at Stadium Perpaduan, Petra Jaya.However, Liew Daren ended his challenge in the first round after he was easily defeated by fourth seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 12-21, 13-21 in a 37-minute match.ADVERTISEMENT When met by reporters, Daren said Axelsen, who is also ranked world number four, set a fast pace that saw him struggle to keep up.He said apart from that, there was also the fatigue factor as he had to overcome three sets Tuesday to get into the first round."I will work on fixing my weaknesses before the Singapore Open," he said.Following Daren to the exit door were national top men's doubles Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong when they were eliminated in the first round after they were shocked by Hong Kong's Tang Chun Man-Or Chin Chung on Wednesday.ADVERTISEMENT Th Rio Olympics silver medallists who were also the top seeds, lost 17-21, 21-23 in 36 minutes.But the home fans' disappointment was soothed when national men's junior doubles pair Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi notched up a surprise win over sixth seeds Mads Conrad Petersen/ Mads Kieler Kolding of Denmark to advance to the second round.
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Yew Sin/Ee Yi fought for a gruelling 62 minutes before defeating the world number seven pair, 21-19, 16-21, 21-10.China duo, Fu Haifeng/Zheng Siwei, who beat Russians Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov 22-20, 17-21, 21-14 in the first round, await Yew Sin/Ee Yi in the second round Thursday.Speaking to the media after the match, Yew Sin said they felt no pressure during the match, and believed the Danes appeared more tensed.He added they would give their best as all the doubles pairs this time around were among the world's best. Another Malaysian pair, Choo Kah Ming-Low Juan Shen advanced to the second round after beating Taiwan's Lee Jhe-huei-Lee Yang 22-20, 21-16. Kah Ming-Juan Shen finished their match in 37 minutes. Meanwhile, women's doubles pair Vivian Hoo/Woon Khe Wei also suffered a first round loss going down to China's Bao Yixin-Yu Xiaohan.Vivian/Khe Wei, who are ranked 11th in the world, lost 21-13, 17-21, 26-28 in the 85-minute match.Speaking to the media, Khe Wei said they played well, duelling for the match point in the third set, however, failed to win the match due to a mistake."Our opponents were more prepared, although overall our game was good, and we will fix our weaknesses before the Singapore Open," she said.The country's challenge for the trophy in the women's doubles category now rests on the shoulders of Chow Mei Kuan/Lee Meng Yean, who defeated Indonesian pair Dian Fitriani/Nadya Melati 21-18, 21-14 after battling for 38 minutes.Another women's doubles pair, Tee Jing Yi/Joyce Choon also foundered, losing 14-21, 18-21 to sixth seeds Luo Ying/Luo Yu from China. Meanwhile, China's unseeded player Chen Yufei pulled off the first major upset of the tournament by beating Olympic Games silver medallist and recently crowned Indian Open winner Pusarla V. Sindhu of India.Yufei, tamed Sindhu, the sixth seed in the tournament, 18-21, 21-19, 21-17 in a three-set thriller.Sindhu, fresh from winning the India Open after beating World number two Carolina Marin of Spain in straight sets, found the going tough in Wednesday's match that lasted for a little more than an hour.The Indian who had taken the first set 21-18, was off beat in the second and any attempt to rectify her mistakes fell flat against Yufei who was simply making all the right moves.So much so that when Sindhu was met after the match, she acknowledged that Yufei played better than her and deserved to win.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"I started well and won the first game but too many errors in the second and third saw Yufei walking out winner," she said adding that she was not tired or under pressure.Yufei will meet the winner of the match between Malaysia's Goh Jin Wei and Indonesia's Yulia Yosephin Susanto.