Top-ranked Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia crashed out of the India Open badminton tournament in the first round yesterday, losing to Chen Long of China.
World No. 147 Chen, the 2007 world junior champion, rallied after losing the first game to pull off a stunning 7-21, 21-16, 21-18 victory over Lee, runner-up at All England and winner of the Swiss Open this year.
Chen took full advantage of the erratic Lee, who blamed the defeat on weakness caused by a bout of food poisoning.
PHOTO: AP
“I’ve been on medication since I came here,” the No. 1-ranked Lee said. “I must have eaten something that did not agree with me during my flight here from Switzerland and wasn’t feeling anywhere near my best.”
Lee also slammed the officials who umpired his match.
“The umpires are not fit for a tournament of this standard, they need to improve their quality of judgement,” he said.
Lee has been in good form this year, reaching the All England final where he lost to Lin Dan of China, but rebounded to defeat the same opponent in the title contest at the Swiss Open.
Chen has steadily moved up the world rankings after missing most of last year with an ankle injury.
Second-seeded Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia faced no difficulty in reaching the second round with a 21-8, 21-13 win over qualifier K. Nandagopal of India.
Third-seeded Chetan Anand of India had to work hard for a 14-21, 21-9, 22-20 victory over Lok Chong Chieh of Malaysia.
The Indian Open suffered a blow at the weekend when it was announced that English players Carl Baxter and Rajiv Ouseph, seeded 11 and 12 respectively, had been withdrawn from the tournament.
This followed advice from the British Foreign Office which voiced concerns over safety in light of recent terror attacks in the subcontinent.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev was the only athlete to “beat” a world record on Sunday at the Enhanced Games, winning the men’s 50m freestyle at the divisive competition where athletes were free to take performance-enhancing substances. His time of 20.81 seconds — which is not considered official — came in the final event of the night in Las Vegas, sparing the blushes of organizers who made claims that multiple world records would be surpassed due to a sophisticated doping regime. Gkolomeev, who was wearing a synthetic “supersuit” long banned at events such as the Olympics, outpaced Australia’s Cameron McEvoy’s 20.88 set in
VICTORY ABROAD: The team took home a fistful of medals and secured spots for the autumn’s Asian Games, scheduled for September in Nagoya Taiwan’s women’s team captured the overall title at the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Mongolia on Sunday, finishing with two golds, one silver and one bronze medal. The strong showing, led by gold medalists Wang Chieh-ling and Chang Jui-en secured the full quota of available spots for Taiwan at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, in September. Wang opened Taiwan’s medal run by winning gold in the women’s under-46kg class on Thursday, the first day of competition. Liu Yu-yun later earned a silver in the under-49kg class. On the final day on Sunday, Chang won Taiwan’s second gold medal in the under-62kg event, and
The manager of the Yomiuri Giants, one of Japan’s most popular baseball teams, resigned yesterday after he was arrested for allegedly physically attacking his teenage daughter. Shinnosuke Abe allegedly grabbed the 18-year-old and forced her to the floor at their home in central Tokyo on Monday evening, reported national broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News, citing unnamed police sources. “Leaving like this really means I’m causing you a lot of trouble, and I feel truly sorry about that,” Abe told a hastily arranged news conference, his eyes red with tears. The former star catcher, who is among baseball-obsessed Japan’s most recognized sports figures,
Taiwanese tennis star Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles at the French Open, after she and German partner Mark Wallner defeated Slovenian Andreja Klepac and Briton Lloyd Glasspool in straight sets, despite temperatures exceeding 32°C in Paris, while Taiwan’s top men’s doubles player Ray Ho also reached the second round. Hsieh, who made it to the semi-finals in the mixed doubles at Roland Garros in 2024, and Wallner defeated Klepac and Glasspool 6-3, 7-5 in just more than an hour, converting three of five break points, while holding their opponents to just one conversion
RSS