Interestingly, Liu Cheng/Zhang Nan stunned Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong while Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen were booted out by an unknown JPN pair.
After an apparent close hard-fought struggle based on how the score panned out, Wei Nan came out on top of Son Wan Ho in three sets.
......and right in front of his own doorsteps. Otherwise it will be embarrassing. Xue Song lost in 3 sets, but at least we are beginning to see glimpses of the real Xue Song, running well and doing jump smashes.
Good, I'm looking forward to seeing Xue Song back to his best soon. That AE injury couldn't have come at a worst time, just when he was on the cusp of a breakthrough.
Nozomi Okuhara retired at the mid-game interval at 6-11 down. Wonder what happened to her, no livestream,hope she's not seriously injured or something.
so both RI and NO retired in middle of game 1. hope both are alright. with SN knocked out today, only CM win among the top 4 seeds.
Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan , just back from a resoundingly successful European campaign, is unceremoniously bundled out by an unknwon JPN pair
Not to worry,it's normal or like that when you first come back from injury, esp when you've just recovered and not yet fully match fit. I should say it's not only physical preparation but also mental readiness. Look what happening to Xue Song the first couple of months in his injury comeback. In fact, I was thinking with his torn lateral meniscus, it'd take about six months to rehabilitate and then another three months to regain most of his previous form but he seems to be in a sort of a hurry. Last month he even twisted his ankle a bit, luckily it wasn't too serious and he's back competing, almost somewhat impatiently, perhaps he felt at age 22 he's no longer young. Saina Nehwal is a huge talent, at age 26, she's obviously too young to consider retirement, in my humble opinion, the more so when IND hasn't got many young up-and-comers.I think she can still aim for Tokyo 2020.
What a shame, Shi Yuqi and Chen Long have to square off in R2. I'd much rather the two are in separate halves.
After begging all the attention and stealing the spotlight throughout the season WS all of a sudden looks plagued. NO, RI retired... SN still not completely recovered... LXR injured badly... Wangs retired... Thank God there were some really youngsters in the suhandinata cup.
Yes. you are right. India is void of WS at the moment. Other than injured Saina and inconsistent / "Superseries-resistant" Sindhu, there are no world class WS in india. Unfortunate situation. I bet, Sindhu won't play well in normal tournaments. Even in this tournament, I am not expecting her to do well. Only flag bearer for India lost today. This is my concern.
Shi Yuqi vs Chen Long should be a mouth watering contest tomorrow. Odds favors CL but i won't be surprised if Shi yuqi pulls it off.
Though Saina, Intanon and Nozomi are out, I don't consider the tournament significantly weakened as a result. For Thailand, there's still Busanan whom I believed atm is as good if not better than Intanon. For Japan, Akane Yamaguchi is the new No.1. For India, P V Sindhu is a tricky opponent for anyone on her day, in no way inferior to Saina post-Rio'16. Other than that, there are several WS players on the rise and already on par with the well-known ones or any of the top 8 seeds. It signals the changing of the guards, generally speaking. Btw, I'd expect Li Xuerui to be back in action by the All England next year, hopefully; whether she'll be fully match fit by then, I'm not sure.