Top-seeded Sun Jun pulls out of China Open
Top-seeded Sun Jun pulls out of China Open
JAKARTA (JP): Top seeded Sun Jun of China had to pull out of
the men's singles event of the US$150,000 China Open in the
Fengtai Sports Stadium in Beijing due to a serious waist injury.
World champion Sun has been suffering from a number of
hampering injuries. He preferred to withdraw from the tournament
to give him time to heal the injury in preparation for the Grand
Prix Finals in Brunei Darussalam next month.
Sun's withdrawal gave a walk over win to Liu En Hong of China
Taipei. Two other shuttlers, ninth seeded Ong Ewe Hock of
Malaysia and 13th seeded Thomas Johansson of Sweden, also
withdrew from the tournament.
Indonesian men's singles Budi Santoso, ranked seven in the
world, had to bow out to Xia Xuanze 12-15, 12-15 in the third
round.
Indonesia's men's singles coach Agus Dwi Santoso said Budi had
a chance to beat Xia, the Dutch and German opens champion, but
the Indonesian was worse in attacking.
"Budi is a rallying player while Xia is an offensive player.
Budi was weak on his defense and netting and the Chinese newcomer
was very good in stealing the chance to earn points. The most
important thing is that Budi can still compete in the Grand Prix
Finals," he said.
Budi reached the third round after overcoming Zhang Yi of
China 8-15, 15-8, 15-5 on Tuesday. Earlier on Tuesday, third
seeded Budi easily won against Ma Yuan Cheng of China 15-2, 15-6
in the first round.
Unfortunately, teammate Indra Wijaya failed to overcome 11th
seeded Luo Yigang of China and had to bow out 5-15, 4-15. Earlier
on Tuesday, Indra had a walk over win against Chen Ling of China.
Agus said Indra, world ranked 36, did not have a chance to try
the court and the shuttlecock. "He also had poor form in his
nettings."
Luo totally controlled the match and forced the 25-year-old
Indonesian to make unforced errors.
"In the first game, Indra's serves were faulted twice which
made him play uneasily," Agus said.
In the women's singles, Dai Yun of China beat teammate Xie
Xingfang 11-3, 11-8 in the second round while second seeded Gong
Ruina of China beat compatriot Rong Yi 11-5, 11-2. (yan)