Incheon: China’s two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan bid an early farewell to the 2019 Korea Open after losing to Malaysia’s Daren Liew in men’s singles first round action at Incheon Ariport Skydome on Wednesday.
The 32-year-old Daren Liew was leading by 16-10 in the first set before Lin Dan rallied to tie the game at 18-18. However, Liew managed to win the next two points to eventually claim the first game 21-19.
In the second game, Liew got off to a 6 to 3 lead, and then extended the advantage to 18-10 before finally won the second game 21-14 to advance to the second round. He will face Parupalli Kashyap of India next.
This was Lin’s seventh first round exit of 2019, and his second first round exit in two weeks after losing to Kento Momota in the first round of China Open last week.
In addition to Lin Dan, Rio Olympic champion Chen Long also went down to teammate Lu Guangzu 15-21, 21-13, 13-21 in 64 minutes.
Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia also advanced to the second round by seeing off Suppanyu Avihingsanon of Thailand 21-7, 21-15. Lee will take on Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the second round.
The men’s doubles draw saw Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia overcame Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi 16-21, 21-13, 21-16 to face No. 1 seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia in the second round. Goh/Tan lost to Gideon/Sukamuljo in the quarter-final of last week China Open with 15-21, 17-21.
Meanwhile, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo had to dig deep to get past Malaysia’s Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik 22-24, 21-10, 21-13 in the first round.
