# Former World No 1 falls to India’s Sai Praneeth in shock first round defeat
# ‘I can’t believe I lost in the first round’ – Chong Wei
# Men’s doubles pairs clear the first hurdle
# Jing Yi crashes out in women’s singles
# No joy in mixed doubles as Peng Soon-Liu Ying beaten
Malaysian ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei is out of the prestigious USD550,000 Yonex All-England Badminton Superseries Premier event in Birmingham, England – a first round casualty on Wednesday.
The former World No and seeded second in Birmingham went into the match as a three-time All England champion but India’s World No 37 sent the Malaysian packing with a 24-22, 22-20 win in 50 minutes.
It was the Indian’s biggest win and celebrated his win by hurling his racquet away in sheer jubilation as the Malaysian camp fell into silence on a night when Chinese ace Chen Long and Lin Dan cleared their first round hurdles.
And it is simply shocking that Chong Wei held healthy leads in both games but he could not garner the match winners even though he had game points in both sets.
Chong led 11-3 and 15-6 in the first set. In the second set the 33-year-old Malaysian led 17-12.
“I cannot believe I lost in the first round,” said the Penangite who won four tournaments before going to Birmingham.
“I prepared well and won four tournaments…but I got a lot of pressure on myself. I made a lot of mistakes. At the same time Praneeth surprised me with his good play.”
The defeat only speaks of the pressure everyone is putting on Chong Wei back home in his search for Olympic for the elusive gold.
While Chong Wei’s defeat has become the talk of the badminton world, his coach Hendrawan summed it up in four words – “he is only human” – to take cool things.
Chong Wei’s next heads to the Swiss Alps for the Swiss Open.
There was also no joy for Malaysia in the women’s singles when the country’s top woman shuttler fell to a 11-21, 18-21 defeat to Indonesia’s Lindaweni Fanetri in a first round match.
It was no different in the mixed doubles when Chan Peng-Goh Liu Ying lost to Korean pair Ko Sung-hyun-Kim Ha-na 21-16, 17-21, 20-22 in the first round.
However, both Malaysian pairs in the men’s doubles advanced to the second round.
Selected first round results
Sai Praneeth (Ind) beat Lee Chong Wei (Mas) 24-22, 22-20
Tommy Sugiarto (INa) beat Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) 21-14, 21-14
Srikanth (Ind) beat Rajiv Ouseph (Eng) 21-17, 21-12
Kento Momota (Jpn) beat Christie Jonathan (Ina) 19-21, 21-18, 21-13
San Wan Ho (KOr) beat Takuma Ueda (Jpn) 21-11, 11-21, 21-18
Sameer Verma (Ind) beat Hu Yun (Hkg) 21-10, 21-14
Sho Sasaki (Jpn) beat Wei Nan (Hkg) 21-11, 21-18
Jan O Jorgensen (Den) beat Hsu Jen-hao (Tpe) 21-14, 21-14
March Zwiebler (Ger) beat Boonsak Ponsana (Tha) 21-10, 21-11
Angus Ng Ka Long (Hkg) beat Ajay Jayaram (Ind) 21-18, 19-21, 21-19
Men’s Doubles
Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong (Mas) beat Manu Attri-B. Sumeeth Reddy (Ind) 16-21, 21-13, 21-15
Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (Mas) beat Bodin Issara-NipitphonPuangpuapech (Tha) 16-21, 21-13, 21-9
Women’s singles
Linda Fanetri (Ina) beat Tee Jing Yee (Mas) 21-11, 21-18
Mixed Doubles
Ko Sung-hyun-Kim Ra-na (Kor) beat Chang Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (Mas) 16-21, 21-17, 22-20
