Malaysia’s Chong Wei Feng produced a stunning upset at the Fuzhou event, beating world No. 7 Son Wan-ho of South Korea 21-14, 22-20 in 48 minutes in the first round.
Top seed Chen Long opened his bid to defend his China Open title with a comfortable win over Tien Minh Nguyen on Wednesday, winning 21-17, 21-8.
Not every Chinese player advanced. Kenichi Tago is out after losing to Gao Huan of China, and Tian Houwei also suffered an early exit.
Men’s Singles
World No. 3 Jan O Jorgensen had no such trouble. The Dane dominated from the outset against Boonsak Ponsara and won 21-13, 21-13. Jorgensen will face Lin Dan in the second round. Lin cruised past Taiwan’s Hsu Jen-hao 21-15, 23-21 in the first round.
Fourth seed Tommy Sugiarto and last year’s beaten finalist Wang Zhengming also reached the second round. Sugiarto had to hold off a resurgent Brice Leverdez in the opening game before winning 21-16, 21-12. Wang beat Takuma Ueda 21-18, 21-17. Seventh seed Hu Yun defeated Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 21-17, 21-18.
Women’s Singles
All five seeds in action on Wednesday booked second-round places. Ratchanok Intanon started with a 21-19, 21-12 win over Hui Xuerui. Sixth seed Saina Nehwal needed three games to beat Sayaka Takahashi 21-14, 19-21, 21-17.
Second seed Wang Shixian, the 2013 runner-up, was pushed to a deciding game by Busanan Ongbumrungpan. The Chinese player prevailed 21-12, 14-21, 21-12. Wang Yihan and Tai Tzu-ying also advanced.
Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, a semi-finalist last year, is out after losing 21-6, 21-16 to Bae Yeon-ju. The biggest upset in the women’s singles came when reigning women’s world champion Carolina Marin of Spain lost 14-21, 17-21 to Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying.
Men’s Doubles
Second seeds Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan were knocked out by Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen of China, losing 21-23, 8-21 in 33 minutes. Malaysia’s Hoon Thien How and Tan Boon Heong fell 15-21, 21-18, 15-21 to fourth seeds Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa of Japan.