Defending champion Li falls at first hurdle
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, March 7, 2013
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China's top seed Li Xuerui returns a ball to Bae Yeon-ju of South Korea during their All-England Open first-round match in Birmingham yesterday. |
LI Xuerui, the Olympic and All England champion, suffered a stunning defeat yesterday when she lost in the first round in defence of her title at the All England Open in Birmingham.
Li, widely regarded as the sport's outstanding woman player after her triumph at the London Games seven months ago, went down 18-21, 18-21 to Bae Yeon-ju, the world No. 13 from South Korea.
The Chinese player did not blame either the wind drift or having to face such a high-quality opponent in the first round for her defeat. "It was personal performance issues, too many mistakes, nothing else," she said.
Li's defeat opens up a better chance of her Chinese compatriot Wang Yihan, the No. 3 seed and former All-England champion, reaching the final again in the top half.
Later in the day, two other Chinese seeds were sent packing in the first round, both in action in the men's singles.
The most surprising was the defeat of the third-seeded Du Pengyu, the runner-up in the World Super Series finals, who went down 17-21, 21-15, 18-21 to Chou Tien-chen, the world No. 28 from Chinese Taipei, who scored the finest victory of his career.
Hu Yun, the sixth seed from China's Hong Kong, also failed to survive a long match, leading 19-17 in the final game and still losing 16-21, 21-11, 21-23 to Tanongsak Saensomboonsak, a qualifier from Thailand.
Compatriot Chen Long stemmed the rot for the Chinese, however, but not after a struggle. The second seed overcame a tough challenge from Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana before emerging with a 21-13, 19-21, 21-15 first-round victory.
But there was no joy for Taufik Hidayat after the Indonesian veteran lost 16-21, 11-21 to Japan's Sho Sasaki.
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