TOKYO, Sept 21: Downcast Athens Olympic gold medallist Taufik Hidayat became the first major casualty at the Japan Open when he crashed out to Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen in the opening round on Wednesday.
The out-of-form fifth seed from Indonesia, who has yet to win a title this season, struggled throughout the 53-minute match before losing 21-17, 12-21, 21-18.
There was no such trouble for defending champion and world No 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, who eased past Rajiv Ouseph of England 21-13, 21-13.
The top seed needed only 25 minutes to beat Ouseph.
Meanwhile, Chinese star Lin Dan, the winner here in 2005 and 2006, needed three games and 43 minutes to beat 2002 champion Lee Hyun-Il of South Korea 21-16, 11-21, 21-12.
In the women’s singles, Chinese top two seeds Wang Yihan and Wang Shixian advanced to the next round in a different style with world champion Wang Yihan coasting to an easy 21-14, 21-8 win over Yao Jie of the Netherlands.
Wang Shixian, who claimed the prestigious All England in March, had a tougher time beating her former team-mate, Pi Hongyan of France, 21-9, 12-21, 21-11.
Seventh seed Cheng Shao-chieh of Taiwan became the first seed to fall earlier in the day when she abandoned the match to Japan’s Sayaka Sato with a foot injury at 15-21, 4-11 down.
But other seeds – 2007 champion Tine Baun of Denmark, China’s Wang Xin and Liu Xin, Indian star Saina Nehwal and Juliane Schenk of Germany – safely went through.
Fifth seed Baun came back from a game down to beat Hong Kong’s Tse Ying-suet 19-21, 21-7, 21-17, while third seed Wang Xin overwhelmed Bae Youn-Joo of South Korea 21-8, 21-9.
Sixth seed Liu Xin whipped Yip Pui-yin of Hong Kong 21-15, 21-17, Nehwal defeated Inthanon Ratchanok of Thailand 21-17, 21-10 and Schenk downed Japan’s Ai Goto 21-10, 21-8.
Results (prefix number denotes seeding):Men’s singles:First round: 1-Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) bt Rajiv Ouseph (England) 21-13, 21-13; Wang Zhengming (China) bt Wong Wing-ki (Hong Kong) 23-21, 21-13; Chou Tien-chen (Taiwan) bt 5-Taufik Hidayat (Indonesia) 21-17, 12-21, 21-18; Kenichi Tago (Japan) bt Chan Yan-kit (Hong Kong) 21-12, 21-13; 3-Peter Gade (Denmark) bt Marc Zwiebler (Germany) 21-15, 21-18; Shon Wan-Ho (South Korea) bt Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (Denmark) 21-13, 21-11; Ajay Jayaram (India) bt 7-Nguyen Tien Minh (Vietnam) 21-18, 21-19; Simon Santoso (Indonesia) bt Shu Wada (Japan) 21-14, 21-14; Jan O Jorgensen (Denmark) bt Boonsak Ponsana (Thailand) 21-16, 21-19; Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka (Indonesia) bt 8-Du Pengyu (China) 21-10, 21-16; Takuma Ueda (Japan) bt Suppanyu Avihingsanon (Thailand) 21-18, 21-15; 4-Chen Long (China) bt Kazushi Yamada (Japan) 21-14, 22-20; Kashyap Parupalli (India) bt Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) 19-21, 21-14, 21-14; 6-Chen Jin (China) bt Sho Sasaki (Japan) 21-15, 21-12; Hu Yun (Hong Kong) bt Tommy Sugiarto (Indonesia) 17-21, 21-15, 21-16; 2-Lin Dan (China) bt Lee Hyun-Il (South Korea) 21-16, 11-21, 21-12.
Women’s singles:First round: 1-Wang Yihan (China) bt Yao Jie (Netherlands) 21-14, 21-8; Sung Ji-Hyun (South Korea) bt Eriko Hirose (Japan) 20-22, 21-14, 21-17; 5-Tine Baun (Denmark) bt Tse Ying-suet (Hong Kong) 19-21, 21-7, 21-17; Maria Febe Kusumastuti (Indonesia) bt Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Thailand) 13-21, 21-15, 21-18; 3-Wang Xin (China) bt Bae Youn-Joo (South Korea) 21-8, 21-9; Tai Tzu-ying (Taiwan) bt Adriyanti Firdasari (Indonesia) 21-13, 21-18; 6-Liu Xin (China bt Yip Pui-yin (Hong Kong) 21-15, 21-17; Nozomi Okuhara (Japan) bt Lindaweni Fanetri (Indonesia) 21-14, 21-17; Gu Juan (Singapore) bt Petya Nedelcheva (Bulgaria) 21-4, 13-21, 21-12; Sayaka Sato (Japan) bt 7-Cheng Shao-chieh (Taiwan) 21-15, 11-4 – Shao-chieh retired; Fu Mingtian (Singapore) bt Salakjit Ponsana (Thailand) 21-15, 21-15; 4-Saina Nehwal (India) bt Inthanon Ratchanok (Thailand) 21-17, 21-10; Aprilla Yuswandari (Indonesia) bt Ayane Kurihara (Japan) 21-11, 21-19; 8-Juliane Schenk (Germany) bt Ai Goto (Japan) 21-10, 21-8; Minatsu Mitani (Japan) bt Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (Thailand) 21-18, 12-21, 21-19; 2-Wang Shixian (China) bt Pi Hongyan (France) 21-9, 12-21, 21-11.—AFP