Odense: No. 7 seed Lee Chong Wei from Malaysia had to fight but eventually came through a tight opener on Wednesday at the Odense Sports Park, beating Pablo Abian of Spain 21-12, 21-16 to advance to the second round of the 2017 Denmark Open.
Lee improved to 2-0 against Abian in their career encounter after Wednesday’s victory and will play H. S. Prannoy of India on Thursday.
World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark also safely through to the second round after outlasting Japanese player Takuma Ueda in straight sets.
The Dane ace stayed solid on his game plan throughout to wrap up a 21-8, 21-11 victory and set up a second-round meeting with Wei Nan of Hong Kong.
No. 6 seed Chen Long however suffered a first round exit at the Odense Sports Park at the hands of Lee Hyun-il of Korea. The 37-year-old Lee defeated Chen who looked a little rusty, 21-19, 22-20 in 60 minutes. Lee Hyun-il is set to play Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand next.
In addition to Chen Long, two other Chinese players were also knocked out of the tournament. No. 4 seed Shi Yuqi of China was shown the exit from Rajiv Ouseph of England, losing 19-21, 13-21, while Tian Houwei was sent home by No. 5 seed Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan 20-22, 14-21 in 50 minutes. There’s no more Chinese men’s singles player left in the tournament after these 3 exits.
