CHANGZHOU, China, Sept. 18 -- Men's singles seeded players Kento Momota and Chen Long ousted their respective competitors here in the 2019 BWF China Open first round.
On the women's side, singles top seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan and her compatriot, fourth seeded Nozomi Okuhara, crashed out on in Tuesday's first round.
Men's top seed Momota breezed past China's two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan. Lin, who turns 36 in October, lost to the 25-year-old Momota 14-21, 14-21 in 49 minutes in front of home fans. Momota controlled the game with easiness and left the Chinese veteran no chances.
"The result could be different if I did better in details," Lin said in frustration. "I was not as patient as him. I had prepared a lot but I didn't perform that well."
The lethargic Lin admitted that the lack of energy might have caused the failure.
China's Olympic champion Chen Long defeated Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia 21-16, 12-21, 23-21 to move into the second round.
Fifth seed Chen won the first set, but was stunned by six consecutive points from Lee in the second, which set up a decider.
Chen made the early running in the third set, leading 16-10 until Lee replied with five points in a row. The rest of the match ebbed and flowed, finally ending with a narrow victory for Chen after he lost two match points.
In Tuesday's women's singles matches, top-seeded Akane Yamaguchi was unexpectedly stopped by 33rd world ranking Evgeniya Kosetskaya from Russia. Yamaguchi won the first set but Kosetskaya fought back 21-17 in the second one. In a tight third set, Kosetskaya reversed to win by 24-21.
Yamaguchi's recent slump is considered to be related to her injury as she also unexpectedly crashed out of the August Badminton Worlds.
With both players coming back from injury, Spain's Carolina Marin upset fourth seeded Nozomi Okuhara 21-16, 21-18 to cruise into the second round.
In the mixed doubles action, China's Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong, ranking as the top seed, ousted their Japanese competitors Takuro Hoki and Wakana Nagahara 21-12, 21-12.
Chinese player Du Yue attended both the women's doubles match with Li Yinhui and the mixed doubles match with He Jingting today. She and her partner advanced in both matches.