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Defending champion Lin, top-seeded Lee advance at badminton championships
By Sandeep Nakai, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Monday, August 10, 2009

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China’s Lin Dan competes against Israel’s Misha Zilberman during their men’s singles match. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Manish Swarup)

HYDERABAD, India - Top-seeded Lee Chong Wei and defending champion Lin Dan secured easy victories Monday to advance to the second round of the badminton world championships.

Top-ranked Lee of Malaysia overcame a slow start to prevail 21-14, 21-10 over Germany’s Dieter Domke on the opening day, while China’s Lin, seeking to become the first player to win three successive titles, defeated Misha Zilberman of Israel 21-9, 21-11.

Joining them in the second round was third-seeded Peter Gade of Denmark, a 21-11, 21-16 winner over Ukraine’s Valerly Atrashchekov.

The tournament began under tight security in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad after England’s decision Sunday to withdraw due to security concerns.

Returning to the venue of his first-round elimination in the India Open five months ago, Lee took time to find his game against the 116th-ranked Domke.

"I was slow to settle down and made some unforced errors in the first game," said Lee, who added that he is satisfied with his form going into the championships.

Lee is in the top half of the men’s singles draw together with archrival Lin, winner of the singles title at the 2006 and 2007 worlds and the 2008 Olympics.

Lin, who is seeded fifth because of his low ranking after missing several Super Series events, is regarded by many as favourite for the title but has tried to deflect the attention.

"I don’t consider myself as a favourite for the title. I think Gade and top-seed Lee Chong Wei are the favourites," he said.

Gade, 32, the losing finalist in the 2001 world championships, said he felt comfortable throughout his match, even though his opponent played a brisk game.

"The guy was fast, but I was always in control. It was a good way to start the tournament," he said.

Gade is expected to meet Lin in the quarter-finals.

Dutch player Dicky Palyama scored the first upset of the tournament by ousting 11th-seeded Bao Chun Lai of China 21-18, 21-14 in the opening round.

Sixth-seeded Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia advanced to the second round with a 21-13, 21-9 victory over Austria’s Michael Lahnsteiner, and 15th-seeded Chetan Anand of India defeated South Korean Ji Hoon-Hong 21-8, 21-16.

In the women’s draw, No. 14 Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia took just 19 minutes to defeat American Shannon Pohl 21-4, 21-6.

Juliane Schenk of Germany, the 11th seed, coasted to a 21-8, 21-12 win over India’s Aditi Mutatkar, while 15th-seeded Maria Kristin Yulianti of Indonesia outplayed Sweden’s Sophia Hansson 21-6, 21-2 to reach the women’s singles second round.

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