Lin Dan crashes out in first round of All England Open
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E-mail Xinhua, March 7, 2019
Six-time champion Lin Dan of China suffered a shocked first round defeat at the All England Open badminton championships on Wednesday.
The 35-year-old Lin lost to Japan's Kana Tsuneyama 21-19, 14-21, 7-21, his first opening-round defeat since he made his debut in 2002 at the world's oldest badminton tournament.
"I find it more and more difficult to focus my concentration late in the first round. After my concentration was interrupted, it will be difficult to fight back," said the two-time Olympic champion who is bidding to win a place in next year's Tokyo Olympics.
"Every player is fighting very hard to win more points because of the coming Olympics. I will play more tournaments for more ranking points," Lin added.
Defending champion Shi Yuqi, who upset Lin in last year's final, beat Denmark's Anders Antonsen 21-17, 21-16 in 45 minutes to reach the second round.
"I hope to win the championship again this year," Shi said. "There is certainly some pressure as the defending champion but I will turn the pressure into motivating strength."
"I feel more confident after the first match."
Third seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei also made a shock exit as he was beaten by China's Huang Yuxiang 21-14, 16-21, 24-22.
In the women's competition, third seed Chen Yufei breezed past Chinese teammate Han Yue 21-10, 21-14 and second seed Nozomi Okuhara defeated Gregoria Mariska Tungjung of Indonesia 21-17, 21-16.
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