Chong Wei Feng of Malaysia, the country’s second men’s singles player, pulled off a shock by upsetting world No. 7 Son Wan-ho of South Korea 21-14, 22-20 in 48 minutes in the first round at the China Open in Fuzhou.
Top seed Chen Long also began his title defence successfully, beating Tien Minh Nguyen 21-17, 21-8 on Wednesday.
Men’s Singles
Not every seeded player advanced. Kenichi Tago lost to Gao Huan of China and is out, while Tian Houwei, also from China, suffered an early exit.
World No. 3 Jan O Jorgensen had no such trouble. The Dane dominated from the start against Boonsak Ponsara and won 21-13, 21-13. Jorgensen will face Lin Dan in the second round. Lin cruised past Taiwan’s Hsu Jen-hao 21-15, 23-21 in the first round.
Fourth seed Tommy Sugiarto and last year’s beaten finalist Wang Zhengming also reached the second round. Sugiarto had to fend off a resurgent Brice Leverdez in the opening game before winning 21-16, 21-12. Wang defeated Takuma Ueda 21-18, 21-17. Seventh seed Hu Yun beat Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 21-17, 21-18.
Women’s Singles
All five seeds in action on Wednesday booked second-round spots in the women’s draw.
Ratchanok Intanon opened with a 21-19, 21-12 win over Hui Xuerui. Sixth seed Saina Nehwal needed three games to beat Sayaka Takahashi 21-14, 19-21, 21-17. Second seed Wang Shixian, the 2013 runner-up, was taken to a deciding game by Busanan Ongbumrungpan before winning 21-12, 14-21, 21-12. Wang Yihan and Tai Tzu-ying also advanced.
The biggest upset in the women’s singles came when reigning world champion Carolina Marin of Spain lost 14-21, 17-21 to Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying. Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, last year’s beaten semi-finalist, also exited, losing 21-6, 21-16 to Bae Yeon-ju.
Men’s Doubles
Second seeds Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan lost to Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen of China 21-23, 8-21 in 33 minutes. Malaysia’s Hoon Thien How and Tan Boon Heong fell 15-21, 21-18, 15-21 to fourth seeds Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa of Japan.