Wuhan: Malaysian badminton superstar Lee Chong Wei put on a dominant performance against World No. 11 Wang Zhengming of China in the first round of 2016 Badminton Asia Championship (BAC) in Wuhan, China on Wednesday, beating Wang 21-16, 21-14 in 46 minutes and extending his undefeated streak against Wang to 16-0.
Lee will meet Vincent Wong Wing Ki of Hong Kong in the second round. Wong defeated Anthony Ginting of Indonesia, 21-18 and 21-6.
Malaysian shuttler Zulfadli Zulkiffli who was omitted from Malaysia’s Thomas Cup team, fought back valiantly to prevail over Wei Nan of Hong Kong 21-12, 17-21, 21-18 in 72 minutes.
Zulkiffli will next play No. 1 seed Chen Long, who held off South Korean Jeon Hyeok Jin 21-4, 21-16.
Meanwhile, two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan survived a major scare in the opening round of BAC, outlasting Indonesian youngster Ihsan Maulana Mustofa 21-9, 14-21, 21-19 in 65 minutes to set up a second round battle with Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam next.
Nevertheless, Malaysia’s second men’s singles shuttler Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin bowed out after he was knocked out by Taiwan’s Wang Tzu Wei 19-21, 18-21.
In men’s doubles, Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong struggled to live up to expectation, as they were stunned by Singapore’s Terry Hee Yong Kai/Loh Kean 21-18, 21-23 and 19-21.
Former World No. 1 pair Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong had to dig deep to progress to the BAC second round with a three-set 14-21, 21-15, 21-13 win over Taiwanese pair Liao Min Chun/Tseng Min Hao. Koo/Tan who were included in the 2016 Malaysian Thomas Cup squad few days ago will face Japanese pair Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda who shocked the World No. 3 pair Chai Biao/Hong Wei of China in the men’s doubles first round, winning in 27-25 and 21-17.
Vivian Hoo/Woon Khe Wei breezed through to the women’s doubles second round without breaking a sweat after Tang Yuanting/Yu Yang pulled out of the tournament in last minutes. Hoo/Woon await Indonesian pair Nitya Krishinda Maheswari/Greysia Polii in the second round.
