LEE Chong Wei began his bid for the World Championships title in a relaxed manner by cruising into the second round at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad yesterday.
| Wong Mew Choo beat American Shannon Pohl 21-4, 21-6 to advance to the second round. — AFPpic |
Chong Wei, the top seed, was not in top gear as he took his time to adjust to the conditions at the venue before securing a 21-14, 21-10 victory over Germany's Dieter Domke in 25 minutes.
Although Chong Wei managed to seize control of the match, he made a number of unforced errors that he must avoid repeating in the later part of the championships.
It will be another easy encounter for Chong Wei tomorrow where he will play Nigeria's Ola Fagbemi in the second round.
Chong Wei said he, incidentally, was playing in the same court where he lost his first round match to Chen Long of China in the India Open in April. But that didn't affect his performance yesterday.
"I made several unforced errors but this being my first match here, those things are expected. Otherwise, everything is under control," said Chong Wei.
"I'm also slowly adapting to the draught here and the court conditions. As far as the security is concerned, we are being looked after well.
"This is the same court where I lost in the first round of the India Open but that wasn't playing on my mind. I am looking forward to getting better by each match."
Women's singles Wong Mew Choo began her campaign convincingly by thrashing Shannon Pohl of the United States 21-4, 21-6 in 19 minutes.
She is expected to face a tougher battle against Japan's Ai Goto, who was untested in her 21-9, 21-13 win over Chloe Magee of Scotland, in the second round tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Netherland's Dicky Palyama sent a warning to the top shuttlers after defeating China's Bao Chunlai 21-18, 21-14 in 36 minutes to advance to the second round.
"There was no pressure on me and I played freely," said Palyama, an Indonesian who migrated to Netherlands as junior to seek a better fortune, after his victory.
"I knew Bao is a tough opponent, but my coach told me to keep cool. I knew I had a chance to win the match when I was leading in the second game."
Two-time World Champion Lin Dan of China didn't suffer first round jitters as he secured a commanding 21-9, 21-11 win over Misha Zilberman of Israel in his opening match.
Lin Dan will play Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk, who thrashed Malaysian Lee Tsuen Seng 21-7, 21-13 in 25 minutes, in the second round on Wednesday.
"I don't consider myself as a favourite. I think Peter Gade (Christensen) and Chong Wei are favourites," said Lin Dan.
"The shuttle was coming a bit slow, but these things happen and one's got to adapt to the conditions. I've had a decent start now and I'm not thinking beyond my next match."
Christensen secured a 21-11, 21-16 win over Valeriy Atrashchenkov of Ukraine and will play Shoji Sato of Japan in the second round.
In the mixed doubles, Razif Latif-Woon Khe Wei suffered an embarrassing 21-17, 9-21, 21-17 defeat in 29 minutes to Ukraine's Valeriy Atrashchenkov-Elen Prus in the opening round.
Back-up pair Lim Yin Loo-Marylen Pang's campaign also ended in the first round after crashing 21-8, 21-16 to Shizuka Matsuo-Mami Naito of Japan.
No comments:
Post a Comment