Shuttler Chong Wei Feng’s dream of a grand debut in the World Championships was slightly marred – by a faulty scoreboard – but he did not mind.
The 26-year-old Wei Feng was happy that he accomplished what he had dreamt for many years – seeing action in his first world meet and winning his opening match against England’s Rajiv Ouseph 21-11, 21-15.
The electronic scoreboard broke down during his match but it did not disrupt his rhythm of play. Even after trailing 9-11 in the second game, he managed to step on the gas to seal a win.
“I had dreamt of playing in my first World Championships for some time. It was not as grand as I had imagined though. Every other tournament had a scoreboard that was working. Here, they did not even have live scoring for some time,” he said in a jest.
The opening day was disrupted several times by faulty electronic scoreboard causing some of the results to be tabulated manually.
“But I am still happy to clear the first round. I was relaxed throughout the match … and maybe, even slowed down a little in the second game. Fortunately, my coach (Rashid Sidek) told me to speed up the game, which I did,” said Wei Feng.
On being mistaken as Lee Chong Wei, Wei Feng said: “Yes, it does happen outside Malaysia. People mistake me for Chong Wei but I am fine with it. In fact, I find it amusing. We are, however, two players of different styles,” added Wei Feng, who will take on Ukranian Smytro Zavadsky tomorrow.
First timer Lim Yin Loo also enjoyed a good day when she made it to the second round in two events. She won her women’s doubles and mixed doubles matches with Goh Liu Ying and Ong Jian Guo respectively.
Independent shuttlers Ng Hui Lin-Ng Hui Ern are also through to the second round but debutants Tan Aik Quan-Lai Pei Jing’s challenge ended yesterday.
