Lin Dan suffered a rare first round defeat in the 2018 Wuhan City of Automobile Badminton Asia Championships in Wuhan on Wednesday.
The Chinese legend fell to 15-21, 21-9, 21-16 defeat to unseeded Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei in a 62 minute match at the Wuhan Sports Center that left the home fans shocked.
“My opponent simply played well,” said the sixth seeded Lin Dan, who lost to Chen Long in last year’s final at the same venue.
Third seed Chen Long breezed through a 21-8, 21-8 over Jordan’s Bahaedeen Ahmad Alshannik in 33 minutes while Srikanth, fresh from winning the silver medal in the recent Commonwealth Games in Gold Australia was taken the distance by Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto before prevailing 13-21, 21-16, 21-16 in 61 minutes.
“Nishimoto played very well in the first game before I could find my rhythm to force a decider. Once I was able get the feel of the court and read my opponent’s game I was confident of winning the match,” said Srikanth who was briefly ranked the world No 1 during the Commonwealth Games.
In the second round Srikanth, will face Hong Kong’s Vincent Wong Wing Ki who was also stretched to three games 21-16, 17-21, 21-14 by Nepal’s Ratnajit Tamang.
Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei, always a crowd puller in Wuhan, began his campaign in style – winning against Chinese youngster Qiao Bin 21-17, 21-16.
“It is good to make a winning start. There are several up and coming youngsters who are giving the veterans like me a tough time. It adds variety to the game and something for the fans to cheer about,” said Chong Wei, the newly crowned Commonwealth Games champion.
Meanwhile top seed and defending champion Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei was needed only 28 minutes to win her first round match against Korea’s Jeon Jui 21-13, 21-9. Tzu Ying who has won the title the last two years will play another Korean – Kim Hyo-min in the second round.
SELECTED RESULTS (FIRST ROUND)
Men’s singles
K. Srikanth (Ind) beat Kenta Nishimoto (Jpn) 13-21, 21-16, 21-16
Chen Long (Chn) beat Bahaedeen Ahmad Alshannik (Jor) 21-8, 21-8
Si Yuqi (Chn) beat Lee Dong Keun (Kor) 21-3, 6-2 (rtd)
Vincent Wong Wing Ki (Hkg) beat Tamang Ratnajit (Nep) 21-16, 17-21, 21-4
Kento Momota (Jpn) beat Nguyen Tien Minh (Vie) 21-11, 21-15
Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) beat Sameer Verma (Ind) 23-21, 21-17
Anthony Ginting (Ina) beat Nilika Karunaratne (Sri) 22-20, 21-12
Lee Chong Wei (Mas) beat Qiao Bin (Chn) 21-17, 21-16
Wang Tzu Wei (Tpe) beat Lin Dan 15-21, 21-9, 21-16
Men’s Doubles
M. R. Arjun-Ramchandran Shlok (Ind) beat Chung Eui-seok-Kim Dukyoung (Kor) 25-23, 23-21
Lu Ching Yao-Yang Po Han (Tpe) beat Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin (Mas) 20-22, 21-18, 21-17
Women’s singles
Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe) beat Jeon Jui (Kor) 21-13, 21-9
Kim Hyo-min (Kor) beat Lyanny Alessandra Mainaky (Ina) 21-10, 21-10
Lee Jang-mi (Kor) beat Hanna Ramadini (Ina) 21-17, 17-21, 25-23
He Bingjiao (Chn) beat Yip Pui Yin (Hkg) 21-19, 21-14
Saina Nehwal (Ind) beat Yeo Jia Min (Sgp) 21-12, 21-9
Gao Fangjie (Chn) beat Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) 21-15, 23-21
Intanon Ratchanok (Tha) beat Lee Chia-hsin (Tpe) 21-7, 21-13
Sung Ji-hyun (Kor) beat Sayaka Sato (Jpn) 21-13, 21-19
Busanan Ongbamrungphan (Tha) beat Goh Jin Wei (Mas) 18-21, 21-15, 21-10
P.V.Sindhu (Ind) beat Pai Yu Po (Hkg) 21-14, 21-19
Women’s doubles
Meghana Jakkampudi-Poorvisha Sri Ram (Ind) beat Ong Ren Ne-Crystal Wong Jia Ying (Sgp) 14-21, 22-20, 21-17
Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota (Jpn) beat Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean (Mas) 21-12, 21-17
Greysia Polii-Rahayu Apriyani (Ina) beat Huang Dongping-Li Wenmei (Chn) 15-21, 21-11, 21-19
Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai (Tha) beat Gong Xue Xin-Ng Weng Chi (Mac) 21-11, 21-9
Mixed Doubles
Ahmad Tontowi-Liliyana Natsir (Ina) beat Yuki Kaneko-Koharu Yonemoto (Jpn) 21-18, 21-12
Tinn Isriyanet-Pacharpun Chochuwong (Tha) Lu Ching Yao-Chiang Kai Hsin (Tpe) 21-11, 17-21, 21-12
Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (Mas) beat Lee Yang-Hsu Ya Ching (Tpe) 21-19, 21-6
