No easy day for the top seeds – Wang Yihan was very close to losing while Lee Chong Wei was upset by Jan Jorgensen of Denmark in the first round of the Li-Ning China Open in Shanghai.
“I knew it was in me. But today’s victory is just unbelievable. I used to look up at these amazing players when I was a kid, but now, I have to realise I have become one of them,” said Jorgensen.
And the Dane was as happy as one can be after his first round of the Li-Ning China Open held in Shanghai. ChinaOpen-D1-wang
“It wasn’t a good draw at all for me, but on the other hand, I knew that he could be tired after his victory in Hong Kong Last week, so I took all my chances,” added Jorgensen.
The Dane got off to a flying start with an impressive 21/6 first game pocketed in no time. Chong Wei didn’t seem so frustrated but put on the higher gear in the second game that he won 21/13. All seemed back onto the normal track but the third game once again showed Jorgensen’s talent.
Early on the shuttle, relying on a good defense while the Malaysian wasn’t as accurate with his attacks, Jorgensen took an important lead in the decider – he was quickly leading 12/5.The public was cheering for Lee Chong Wei when he caught back to 16/18 but this wasn’t to be enough – the world’s best was sent packing in three games 6/21 – 21/13 – 17/21.
“I think that I had proven in the past that I could take games or win against players like him. Now, if I beat the world number one, it does show that I can win many more matches against the top players. I’m playing great at the moment and this win is definitely going to boost my confidence,” he added.
The Young Dane may have been expecting to play Dutchman Eric Pang, but instead of that it will be France’s Brice Leverdez, who created an upset over his neighbour, winning in an easy 21/6 – 21/13 success, giving France its first success in the men’s singles of a Super Series event since Lo Ying Ping had entered the second round in the French Open last year. ChinaOpen-D1-yihan
If Park Sung Hwan had a sweet and easy revenge over Chan Yan Kit of Hong Kong – the latter had ousted the Korean in Hong Kong last week – other seeds had much more difficult times: Chen Jin struggled with three long games to beat Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk while Sony Dwi Kuncoro had to go the full distance to beat an inspired Andrew Smith of England, 23/21– 14/21 – 21/16.
Lin Dan and Bao Chunlai delighted the home crowd with the big match for China, past 11 PM, but as expected the Olympic Champion beat his taller opponent in straight games 21/12 – 21/19 with obviously some fun rallies played by the two friends where Lin Dan practiced his dives and retrieves to the fans’ delight.
Leverdez’s success was good news for France as his compatriot Pi Hongyan, who usually gets France’s flag flying in International competition was sent home early by youngster Wang Shixian in one of the upsets of the day.
Pi could only manage to get a close second game, but apart from that, the Sichuan born Pi could not match Wang’s pace and went down 12/21 – 21/19 – 12/21 after one hour of fight. Wang Yihan could have been upset as well as the top seed, originally from Shanghai, was all but serene against Korea’s Bae Seung Hee.
After losing easily the first game, she was back at one game all but trailed most of the third game, where the tiny Korean made her work for her points. At 19/19, the Korea wasted her chance to score, putting her smash wide and giving her opponents a first – and decisive match point as Wang converted it right away.
“I was lucky on the last two points because I didn’t play well then. My shots were not accurate nor precise, but fortunately, she didn’t take advantage of it. Maybe she was too eager to win. As for me, I think I was both a bit tired and stressed to play here in China” said Wang. She will take on Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia in the next round.
Wang Chen, from Hong Kong but born in Shanghai will have plenty of time to visit friends and family : the 8th seed was also edged out by qualifier Li Xuerui in straight games – the latter spent so little time and energy on court that she actually ran to shake hands with both the umpire and the service judge. Yao Jie – thought out of the tournament after her walkover last week in Hong Kong but still in Shanghai – was also beaten in the first round, by another young Chinese – Xia Jingyuan.
Source : www.internationalbadminton.org
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