BIRMINGHAM, Britain, March 6 -- China's Lin Dan and Chen Long, who won a total of eight titles between them, both suffered shock first round defeat at the All England Open badminton championships here on Wednesday.
The 35-year-old Lin, also a twice Olympic champion in Athens and Beijing, lost to Japan's 22-year-old Kana Tsuneyama 21-19, 14-21, 7-21, while second seed Chen, the reigning Olympic gold winner, wasted a 14-9 lead in the second set before crashing out 21-15, 21-17.
Lin, who won the title here six times, and Chen, the 2013 and 2017 winner, had never been sent packing in the first round.
Nicknamed "Super Dan" by his fans, Lin's previous earliest exit in his 15 appearances came in 2003 when he was stopped in the round of 16. Chen, who competed eight times, were eliminated twice in the second round.
"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."
【体坛英语资讯:Chinas Super Dan and Chen Long suffer shock first round defeat at All England Open】相关文章:
★ 体坛英语资讯:Djokovic tops Federer at Australian Open
★ 体坛英语资讯:Generous Spurs hand Arsenal early Christmas gift
★ 体坛资讯:Chinese badminton stars to attend Thailand Open GP gold
★ 体坛英语资讯:Woods ties record with 63, grabs two-shot lead
★ 体坛英语资讯:China sweeps womens top three at Xiamen marathon
★ 体坛英语资讯:Liu Xiang cautious on Osaka prospect
★ 体坛英语资讯:Joness agent suspended by US governing body
★ 体坛英语资讯:Boston stays hot at home
★ 体坛英语资讯:Zheng Jie knocks out top-seeded Ana Ivanovic at Wimbledon
★ 体坛英语资讯:Russias historic win over England makes Hiddink proud
最新
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15