Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open.
Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory.
“If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.”
Photo: AP
“I just tried to survive in the match. There is always a lot of pressure when I am here at the All England and every single day, and I got tense when my body was feeling bad and it affected my entire game,” he said.
Lin was to play Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in the second round after press time last night.
In early games yesterday involving Taiwanese, Lu Ming-che and Hung En-tzu were beaten 21-13, 21-17 by China’s Jiang Zhenbang and Huang Dongping in the second round of the mixed doubles on Court 4 at the Utilita Arena Birmingham, while Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue of France defeated Taiwan’s Chen Cheng-kuan and Hsu Yin-hui 19-21, 21-17, 21-14 on Court 3.
In the men’s singles, Chou Tien-chen fell to a 21-11, 21-19 defeat to China’s Shi Yuqi on Court 2. Chou beat Christo Popov 21-10, 21-12 in the first round.
Other Taiwanese to play after press time last night were: Yang Po-hsuan and Hu Ling-fang in the mixed doubles; Liu Kuang-heng and Yang Po-han, and Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan in the men’s doubles; Wang Tzu-wei and Lee Chia-hao in the men’s singles; Hsieh Pei-shan and Hung in the women’s doubles; and Chiu Pin-chian and Hsu Wen-chi in the women’s singles.
Taiwanese were also competing at the Spanish Para Badminton International in Toledo and the Ruichang China Masters. All three are to conclude on Sunday.
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