(Changzhou, September 17) The first round of the 2009 LI LING China Masters Super Series came to a close last night without a hitch except the unexpected elimination of veteran Choong Hann Wong and Mew Choo Wong, both from Malaysia.
Men's singles
Top-seeded Chong Wei Lee (MAS) and China's Lin Dan finished their games almost at the same time, with Lee beating Chinese Lu Qicheng 21-8, 21-16 and Lin outplaying teammate Qiu Yanbo with the identical score of 21-13. Moreover, China's Bao Chunlai and Chen Jin also had a 2:0 win over Misha Zilberman (ISR) and Zhou Wenlong (CHN) respectively. Inevitably, Bao and Chen will have to face each other for a spot in the following quarterfinals.
Among yesterday's winners were Peter Hoeg Gade (DEN), Joachim Persson (DEN) and Sung Hwan Park (KOR). The only seed out of the round of 8 was Choong Hann Wong, who lost his match 21-9, 21-17 to a Chinese youngster Chen Long, to the surprise of all.
Women's singles
The contention between two Chinese world champions, Lu Lan and Zhu Lin, in the women's singles drew great interest. As a result, Lu Lan, a native of Changzhou, achieved an easy win of 2:0 (21-13, 21-9) in front of her folks as Zhu Lin was apparently not in form. In the meantime, No. 2 and No. 4 Wang Lin and Wang Yihan also had a plain sailing beating Seung Hee Bae (KOR) 2:1and Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (THA) 2:0 respectively.
Other winners included top seed Zhou Mi (HKG) and veterans Pi Hongyan (FRA) and Wang Chen (HKG). Among them Pi Hongyan and Pui Yin Yip (HKG) achieved such a high score of 30-29. Danish veteran Tine Rasmussen had a serious challenge from Chinese newcomer Zhang Yuchun, but managed to beat the latter 2:1 thanks to her rich experience. The big news came when Malaysia's No. 1 Mew Choo Wong was unexpectedly eliminated by China's Jiang Yanjiao in two straight games.
Men's doubles
With the absence of big stars in yesterday’s men's doubles, the spectators still enjoyed a few exciting games brought by the younger players, especially those from the host team. Special mention here should be made of Li Gen, son of the Chinese head coach Li Yongbo, who, after a setback in the mixed doubles, managed to edge teammates Liu Jingru/Luo Cheng 2:1 through close teamwork with Guo Junjie.
Women's doubles
The women's doubles saw a few short games, as top-seeded pair Cheng Shu/Zhao Yunlei made short work of their match against teammates Deng Xuan/Qiao Nan 21-6, 21-5. Chinese Olympic champions Du Jing/Yu Yang also beat their opponents Liu Xin/ Luo Ying 2:0, both within 10 points (21-9, 21-5). Another pair known for their fast speed was Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen, who achieved a 21-8, 21-6 win over Ma Xixi/Qi Xuefei.
Mixed doubles
As Indonesia did not send its team to the tournament, the 16 spots in the mixed doubles were shared by China (12) and Korea (4), including No. 3 seed, the veteran combination of Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen, who stole the limelight yesterday afternoon with the absence of No. 1 Yong Dae Lee/Hyo Jung Lee (KOR) and No. 2 He Hanbin/Yu Yang (CHN).