Ng Ka Long missing his match after exiting in first round; Chiharu Shida and new partner Arisa Igarashi register first world tour victory

“LI-NING Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships 2025 part of the HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500” continued its second day at the Hong Kong Coliseum on Wednesday. In the Men’s Singles, home favourite Ng Ka Long Angus failed under the hands of world number 19 Koki Watanabe of Japan in an hour long battle, recording his third successive defeat in the opening round of the home tournament.

Elsewhere, new Women’s Doubles combination Arisa Igarashi and Chiharu Shida of Japan registered their first victory on the world tour after cruising through 21-18, 21-10 over Au Yeung Wing Chi and Ip Sum Yau of the home team.

Ranked two places behind his Japanese opponent, Ng kicked off his campaign with a 2-0 head-to-head record over Watanabe which could last date back when they met in the 2021 Indonesia Masters. The home player made a strong start, building an advantage 11-9 into the break before sealing a 21-14 victory in the first game as he upped the tempo.

It was a closely contested second game which could go either side. Despite leading 18-16 in the closing stages, Ng failed to take the big points, allowing Watanabe to come back with a 21-19 win to level the overall score. Ng again built up a slight 14-12 lead in the rubber before losing five points in a row to hand the opponent the victory when Watanabe closed the match with a 21-18 win.

Ng said after the match that he failed to play his best, especially in the crucial stage of the second game. “I was too eager to win when leading in the closing stages, making errors and some ineffective shots. That makes the difference,” said Ng, who enjoyed playing in front of the home crowd which he could not find in other tournaments on the tour.  The 31-year-old said. “I don’t know how many more times I can play in the Hong Kong Open”. At this stage, Ng preferred not to predict his career future but would try to play every tournament as best as possible until he found it ‘enough’.

In the Women’s Singles, Lo Sin Yan Happy, a 2024 Paris Olympian, had to take on top seed and world number two Wang Zhi Yi of China in the opening round. Although there is a big gap for Lo against the quality opponent, the match was not one-sided as expected especially when the home player came back from 6-13 behind to take a 15-14 lead in the first game. The more powerful Wang was still able to win the game 21-18 before sealing victory when she prevailed again in the second 21-13.

Two other doubles pairs of the home team also existed in the opening round. In the Mixed Doubles, Cheung Sai Shing and Chu Wing Chi were given a hard lesson by Gao Jia Xuan and Wu Meng Ying of China after losing in straight games 9-21, 11-21. The Women’s Doubles pair of Pang Oi Ki Vanessa and Wong Sum Yau was also no match against Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda of Indonesia following a 17-21, 9-21 defeat.

In other competitions, Chiharu Shida and her new partner Arisa Igarashi made no mistake in their first world tour appearance as the Japanese duo easily beat Au-Yeung Wing Chi and Ip Sum Yau of the home team 21-8, 21-10 in the Women’s Doubles first round. Shida broke up with her long-term partner Nami Matsuyama (the pair still ranks third in the world standings) after they captured a bronze medal at the Worlds in Paris last month.

The new partnership said they hadn’t trained too much since joining forces and it would help if they could play more together. “We can improve our partnership through competitions and continue to enjoy the game as a new combination, hopefully we can also bring more joy and fun for the fans.”

Against the two youngsters (14-year-old Au-Yeung and 15-year-old Ip), the Japanese duo said it was an interesting game as it was quite rare to find young players starting in a Super 500 tournament. “This should be a lifelong experience for the two youngsters as we didn’t have such a chance when we were young. It’s very interesting to play against such outstanding players who are still secondary school students,” the Japanese pair said.

In an all-Malaysia affairs between Lee Zii Jia and Leong Jun Hao in the Men’s Singles, Lee, who captured a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic, suffered an early exit following a straight game defeat 16-21, 16-21. Lee has struggled with injuries over the last six months and only made his first appearance at the Worlds in Paris where he was also eliminated in the opening round. With a 47th world ranking, Lee was not even seeded in Hong Kong but was still delighted with the opportunity of playing. “I have been under a lot of pressure since quitting the national team … I even thought of an early retirement. But now I only focus on my own and people who support me and would not care about how other people think. That’s why I decide to come back and play. Although I have lost, I am still very happy that I can stand here.”

Other first round winners included Justin Hoh of Malaysia who beat eighth seed Toma Junior Popov of France in straight games 21-12, 21-17 while Line Christophersen of Denmark came from behind to overcome Pusarla V. Sindhu of India, also the eighth seed, 15-21, 21-16, 21-19 in the Women’s Singles.