Lee Chun Hei/Chau Hoi Wah Knocked out by Young Korean Mixed Doubles Pair

Hong Kong Mixed Doubles Lee Chun Hei/Chau Hoi Wah was eliminated in straight games by Kim Won Ho/Shin Seung Chan of Korea in the first round of YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships.

The Rio Olympics partners Lee Chun Hei/Chau Hoi Wah played a close game at the beginning until the young Korean pair Kim Won Ho/Shin Seung (Kim, 18 years old and Shin 22 years old) caught up from 8:8 and stormed to a 21:15. After they changed sides, fans tried to cheer for the pair. However, they could not keep up their rhythm with the Koreans and lost another game by 6:21.

Chau was not discouraged by the result as this is only the 3rd World Superseries tournament she attended after recovery from a dislocation of her cervical spine. She said, ‘We lost as we are not in the best form.’ The pair resumed their competition early this month in Macau Grand Prix Gold since Chau suffered from dislocation of cervical spine and was forced to take a rest after Japan Open in September. Chau said, ‘We know we have failed the fans at home. However, I wish they can stand by us not only when we are winning but also we are at our low ebb. We are not going to set any target for next year. We just want to get back on track and reach our best form.’

Lee Chun Hei/Law Cheuk Him will play against seed No.4 Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen of China in Men’s Doubles first round. Lee said, ‘It will be a difficult match and we will try our best.’

There were some upsets in Mixed Doubles event. 4 seeded pairs were knocked out in the first round. The Korean pair Kim Ha Na/Seo Seung Jae who took 2 Grand Prix Gold titles this year were defeated by Liao Min Chun/Chen Hsian Huan of Chinese Taipei 16：21, 21：15, 16：21. Seed 6 Lu Kai/Tang Jinhua lost in straight games to Hee Yong Kai/Tan Wei Han. Seed 2 Praveen Jordan/Debby Susanto of Indonesia and Seed 3 Gabrielle Adcock/Chris Adcock were also eliminated in straight games.

YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships 2017 will start at 9am at the Hung Hom Coliseum on 22th Nov. Tickets are available for sale at the URBTIX outlets, website, mobile app My URBTIX and credit card hotline.