TOKYO, April 7: Athens Olympic silver and bronze medallists Mia Audina Tjiptawan of the Netherlands and Zhou Mi of China crashed to shock first-round defeats in the Japan Open badminton tournament on Thursday.
Defending champion Audina, who also won here in 1997, lost to Chinese qualifier Lu Lan 9-11, 11-7, 11-13.
Zhou, the Chinese fifth seed and 2002 Asian Games champion, could not get into her rhythm against 1998 Asian Games gold medallist Kanako Yonekura of Japan and went down 7-11, 9-11 in 43 minutes.
“It was difficult to get used to the court and lights, and furthermore, my opponent is Yonekura. I was beaten before I could get used to it. It was my worst match,” said Zhou, two-time champion here in 2001 and 2002.
Later in the day, other Chinese qualifiers pulled off second-round upset victories with Zhu Lin beating eighth seed Xu Huaiwen of Germany 11-5, 13-11 and Jiang Yanjiao beating Yao Jie of the Netherlands 11-4, 11-3.
The four top seeds — Olympic champion Zhang Ning of China, compatriot and All England champion Xie Xingfang, Pi Hongyang of France and Wang Chen of Hong Kong — made it safely through to the quarterfinals.
In the men’s singles competition, favourites Lin Dan and Chen Hong of China, Peter Gade of Denmark and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia all won in two games to reach the quarterfinals.
Lin trounced Lee Tsuen Seung of Malaysia 15-2, 15-7, Gade breezed past South Korea’s Lee Cheol-Ho 15-6, 15-6, Chen beat Muhammad Roslin Hashim of Malaysia 15-9, 17-14 and Hidayat eliminated Malaysia’s Kuan Beng Hong 15-9, 15-11.
Hashim’s younger brother Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, the winner at the Swiss and Thailand Opens, saw his bid for a third straight title come to an end when a right knee injury forced him to abandon his match with Denmark’s Kenneth Jonassen.
Lu, ranked 92nd, said that while the ninth-ranked Audina was a good all-round player and technically clever, she was slower than before.
Both Yonekura and Lu reached the quarter-finals beating Tine Rasmussen of Denmark 11-4, 11-8 and Xing Aiying of Singapore 11-4, 11-0 respectively.
Zhang defeated Tatiana Vattier of France and Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia, while Xie saw off Cheng Shao-chieh of Taiwan and Tracey Hallam of England, and Pi eliminated two Japanese, Kaori Imabeppu and Eriko Hirose.
Wang defeated Ai Goto of Japan and Elizabeth Cann of England on her way to the quarterfinals.
Results:
Women’s singles (first round): Zhang Ning bt Tatiana Vattier 11-5, 11-1; Wong Mew Choo bt Juliane Schenk 11-9, 11-3; Lu Lan bt Mia Audina Tjiptawan 11-9, 7-11, 13-11; Xing Aiying bt Eva Lee 11-6, 11-1; Wang Chen bt Ai Goto 11-8, 9-11, 11-0; Elizabeth Cann bt Mihoko Matsuo 11-8, 11-7; Kanako Yonekura bt Zhou Mi 11-7, 11-9; Tine Rasmussen bt Seo Yoon-Hee 11-5, 11-6; Zhu Lin bt Miyo Akao 11-9, 11-4; Xu Huaiwen bt Li Li 11-0, 1-11, 11-2; Eriko Hirose bt Chie Umezu 11-5, 13-10; Pi Hongyan bt Kaori Imabeppu 11-4, 11-0; Jiang Yanjiao bt Salakjit Ponsana 11-2, 8-11, 11-4; Yao Jie bt Nicole Grether 11-3, 11-0; Tracey Hallam bt Kaori Mori 11-9, 11-1; Xie Xingfang bt Cheng Shao-chieh 11-3, 6-11, 11-6
Second round: Zhang Ning bt Wong Mew Choo 11-8, 13-11; Lu Lan bt Xing Aiying 11-4, 11-0;
Wang Chen bt Elizabeth Cann 11-1, 11-; Kanako Yonekura bt Tine Rasmussen 11-4, 11-8; Zhu Lin bt Xu Huaiwen 11-5, 13-11; Pi Hongyan bt Eriko Hirose 11-5, 1-11, 11-4; Jiang Yanjiao bt Yao Jie 11-4, 11-3; Xie Xingfang bt Tracey Hallam 11-0, 13-12
Men’s singles third round: Lin Dan bt Lee Tsuen Seng 15-2, 15-7; Bao Chunlai bt Ng Wei) 15-12, 15-10;
Kenneth Jonassen bt Muhammad Hafiz Hashim 17-14, 8-8,retired; Lee Chong Wei bt Bjoern Joppien 15-9, 15-0; Chen Yu bt Wong Choong Hann 15-7, 15-12; Chen Hong bt Muhammad Roslin Hashim 15-9, 17-14; Taufik Hidayat bt Kuan Beng Hong 15-9, 15-11; Peter Gade bt Lee Cheol-Ho 15-5, 15-6.—AFP
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