Recent China Masters champion Tian Houwei was dumped out of the opening round of the Badminton Asia Championships by India’s Ajay Jayaram.
Jayaram held firm in a tense finish to prevail over the No.5 seed in their first round Men’s Singles clash, 21-18 18-21 21-19. The Indian faces Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Jen Hao, who shut out Hong Kong’s Hu Yun, 21-13 21-14.
Top seed Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) and other frontrunners Lin Dan and Chen Long booked their second round places with comfortable victories.
In Men’s Doubles, No.8 seeds Lee Jhe-Huei/Lee Yang (Chinese Taipei) were shown the door by Thailand’s Kittinupong Kedren/Dechapol Puavaranukroh 21-19 21-19, while in Women’s Doubles, No.7 seeds Puttita Supajirakul/Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Thailand) ran aground against Malaysia’s Vivian Hoo/Woon Khe Wei 13-21 21-18 21-19.
Women’s Singles saw a couple of upsets as No.7 seed Saina Nehwal (India) and Nozomi Okuhara (Japan) crashed out. Nehwal was beaten by Japan’s Sayaka Sato 19-21 21-16 21-18, while Okuhara fell to Korean qualifier Lee Jang Mi 21-14 21-16.
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