Chong Wei marches on

KUCHING: Datuk Lee Chong Wei checked into the men’s singles quarterfinals of the Celcom Axiata Malaysia Open badminton championship after he eased past Hong Kong’s Hu Yun in the second round match at the Sarawak Indoor Stadium in Petra Jaya yesterday.

It took the tournament’s top seed only 27 minutes to dismiss the challenge from Hu in straight sets of 21-8, 21-6.

Chong Wei’s next opponent is South Korean qualifier Jeong Hyeok Jin who dumped French challenger Brice Leverdez 21-13, 21-10.

“I finished off Hu quickly so that I can reserve my strength for the next match. As I said earlier, it is very important to focus on my performance match by match.

“I know who my opponent is in the quarterfinals and I will not take him lightly and play my best as usual,” he said in a post match interview.

To Chong Wei, what’s more important is to focus on his own performance from match to match and not to think too much about who his opponents are.

He urged the national junior players not to lose heart after losing in a tournament but instead learn from their experience and work harder to achieve better results.

“It depends on their attitude and whether they want it (success) badly or not. The Badminton Association of Malaysia has given them the chances and their coaches have worked very hard to train them,” he added.

“The lifespan of a sportsman is very short, so you should go all out to achieve your ambition,” he advised the younger players.

Meanwhile, third seed Chen Long of China was stretched to three sets by his compatriot Huang Yixiang before booking his ticket to the last eight where he will meet either Angus Ng Ka Long or Vincent Wong Wing Kyi who are both from Hong Kong.

Fifth seed Son Wan Ho of South Korea also booked his last eight spot when he tamed Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto 21-15, 21-15 to meet India’s Ajay Jayaram after the latter upset fourth seed Viktor Axelson of Denmark in a three-setter (9-21, 21-14, 21-19).

Former Olympic champion Lin Dan of China, the seventh seed, did not have much difficulty in disposing of Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 21-8, 21-13 and he will now play Jonatan Christie in the quarterfinals after the Indonesian bounced back from one set down 21-23 to beat Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen 21-17, 21-19.

In the women’s singles competition, sole Malaysian survivor Goh Jin Wei failed to advance to the next round as the two-time world junior champion lost 14-21, 12-21 to Chen Yufei of China in the second round.

The top seeds are safely through the quarterfinals, with number one seed from Chinese Taipei Tai Tzu Ying ousting her compatriot Pai Yu Po 21-6, 21-8, second seed Carolina Marin of Spain beating Thai opponent Nicthaon Jindapol 21-14, 21-18, third seed Sung Ji Hyun of South Korea defeating Chinese Taipei’s Lee Chia Hsin 21-7, 23-21 and fourth seed Akane Yamaguchi from Japan beat qualifier Chen Su Yu of Chinese Taipei 21-16, 21-14.

The other quarterfinalists are Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, Sun Yu of China and Nozomi Okuhara of Japan.