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Chong Wei cruises into second round of Japan Open

PETALING JAYA: World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei got off to a flying start in the first round of the Japan Open in Tokyo yesterday.

The 29-year-old needed just 25 minutes to brush aside England’s Rajiv Ouseph 21-13, 21-13 to set up a second round clash with China’s Wang Zhengming.

Chong Wei, who is seeking to bounce back from losing to Lin Dan in the World Championships last month, skipped last week’s China Masters. This is his first outing since the loss to the China ace.
Lin Dan also progressed into the second round in Tokyo but his 21-16, 11-21, 21-12 win over South Korean veteran Lee Hyun-il was far from impressive.

The biggest surprise in the singles event came from Taiwanese qualifier Chou Tien Chen, who stunned Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat 21-17, 12-21, 21-18 to set up a second round match against Japan’s Kenichi Tago.

This has also made Chong Wei’s road to the final easier, as he was supposed to meet Taufik in the quarter-finals.

Seventh seed Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam and eighth seed Du Pengyu of China also crashed out in the first round.

In men’s doubles, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong thrashed Japanese qualifiers Hiroyuki Saeki-Ryota Taohata 21-10, 21-8 in just 20 minutes.

They will now face yet another Japanese pair, Yoshiteru Hirobe-Kenta Kazuno, for a place in the quarter-finals.

National No. 2 pair Lim Khim Wah-Goh V Shem also came through their first round test with a gritty 22-20, 21-19 win over South Korea’s Kim Ki-jung-Shin Baek-cheol.



THE STAR

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