French Open: Chong Wei strolls into second round

LEE Chong Wei's quest to win his first European title of the season received a boost when he stormed into the second round of the French Open in Paris yesterday.

The World No 1 needed just 31 minutes to brush aside Germany's World No 16 Marc Zwiebler 21-16, 21-13 to set up a clash with France's Brice Leverdez, who won the first game against Chetan Anand 21-13 before the Indian retired, for a place in today's quarter-finals. Chong Wei hopes to bounce back from back-to-back defeats to China's World No 3 Chen Long in the final of the recent Japan Open and Denmark Open, in Paris.

The two-time All England champion, who has been World No 1 since September 2008, has won six titles so far this year.

In the men's doubles, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong dropped the first set before edging Russia's Vladimir Ivanov-Ivan Sozonov 21-23, 21-17, 23-21 in 51 minutes.
The World No 5 pair will need to buck-up if they hope to beat Denmark's Mads Conrad-Petersen-Jonas Rasmussen in today's second round match.

World No 34 Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah stunned Japan's World No 13 Naoki Kawamae-Shoji Sato 21-15, 26-28, 21-16 yesterday but face a difficult second-round match against China's world champions Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng today.

V Shem-Khim Wah, who have recorded stunning results since they renewed their partnership in April, however, are expected to give the China pair a torrid time.

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