Wang Lin, the world No. 2 from China, and Pi Hongyan, the China-born fourth seed from France, became the first major casualties at the All-England Open when both went out in the first round of the 100th tournament.
Wang led 12-8 and 13-10 in the final game against Eriko Hirose, the world No. 17 from Japan, but still went down 10-21, 21-16, 21-18 to an opponent who impressively combined patience with aggression and fearlessness.
Pi also looked on course when she snatched the first game, but eventually succumbed to a successful revenge bid, beaten 21-23, 21-10, 21-15 by Juliane Schenk, the world No. 11 from Germany, whom she had narrowly denied the bronze medal at the world championships in Hyderabad in August.
PHOTO: AFP
Wang displayed a range of emotions as she let her leads slip away — irritation, frustration, and anxiety, swiveling her body, swiping her racket and averting her gaze from her mistakes.
“It was my own problem because I wasn’t focused enough,” she said afterward. “I was thinking too much and worrying.”
“And I wasn’t playing precisely enough,” Wang added, though she declined to make an excuse of the large drift that dragged several shots on important points unexpectedly wide.
Two seeds went out in the men’s singles as well — Tien Minh Nguyen, the No. 7 from Vietnam, and Jan Jorgensen, the No. 8 from Denmark.
Nguyen was well beaten, 21-10, 21-17, by Kenichi Tago, the young Japanese player who again suggested he is about to push his way up to the top 20.
Jorgensen was beaten just as heavily, 21-16, 21-10, by Chen Long, the brilliant Chinese player who beat Tago in the 2007 world junior final.
Jorgensen was so upset by his performance that he did not appear for a press conference, but later admitted that he was surprised by the emotions in his performance.
“Normally when I am not doing well I get angry and thrash my racket about,” he said. “But this time I didn’t and that was strange. I just don’t know why I was so calm.”
There was nearly an even bigger upset when Chen Jin, the third-seeded Chinese player who was the 2008 All-England champion, had to save a match point to get through his first round match.
Chen survived 21-16, 19-21, 22-20 against young Indonesian Dionysus Hayom Rumbaka, but only after his opponent missed a chance to make a kill at the net at 20-19, match point up.
Chen knew he had put the shuttle just a couple of inches too high, but Rumbaka snatched at the chance and netted it, with the former champion raising his arms in alarm and relief at the error.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Yu-hsing was beaten 21-11, 21-5 by Hashim Muhammad Hafiz of Malaysia.
The top seeds in the men’s doubles, Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong, also made an early exit.
The 2007 All-England champions from Malaysia were saddled with one of the worst first round draws in the history of the event, against Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen, the former world champions from Denmark.
They were also unfortunate to find the Danes in scintillating form in their 21-13, 21-11 triumph.
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