All-England setback for S'pore players

A BELOW-PAR performance and the cold at the All-England Badminton Championships did Singapore's women's doubles pair Jiang Yanmei and Li Yujia in.

They lost to Malaysian pair Lim Pek Siah and Joanne Quay 20-22, 21-17, 23-25 yesterday.

'We played them twice before and beat them on both occasions,' said Jiang.

'But, today, we were below par. We could have played better.'

Jiang and Li beat their opponents in the recent Malaysian Open and last year's New Zealand Open in three sets.

Singapore Badminton Association's acting chief executive Jacqueline Lim said the chilly temperatures of about 8 deg C in the Birmingham Indoor Arena also put the Singapore pair at a disadvantage.

'They're more attack-minded, while the Malaysian pair are more defensive,' she said.

'But, with such cold temperatures, the shuttlecock's flight is slowed down and the player's attack loses its sting.'

'Our doubles pair's advantage was hence neutralised.'

In other first-round results involving Singaporeans yesterday, Xing Aiying lost to China's Wang Lin 7-21, 12-21 in the women's singles.

Japan's Shoji Sato beat Kendrick Lee (above) 21-12, 21-4 in the men's singles.

The second-seeded Danish pair of Jens Eriksen and Martin Lundgaard Hansen defeated Hendri Kurniawan and Wijaya Hendra in the men's doubles 21-15, 12-21, 28-26.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei wasted little time on court when he disposed of Indian No 1 Chetan Anand 21-12, 21-4 in just 18 minutes to advance into the second round of the men's singles.

However, compatriots Lee Tsuen Seng and Yeoh Kay Bin failed to clear their first hurdles.

Tsuen Seng lost to Simon Santoso of Indonesia 21-15, 13-21, 9-21, while Kay Bin fell victim to Korea's Park Sung Hwan 11-21, 15-21.

Chong Wei, the world No 3 whose recent form had come under criticism after losses at the World Championships last September, the Asian Games in Doha in December and the Malaysian Open and the Korean Open last month, showed flashes of his past brilliance.