Muelheim: Two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China was able to “hang tough” while trying to find a way to win against his younger teammate as Lu Guangzu on Wednesday in the German Open first round. He was eventually able to clinch two match points to outlast Lu 21-16, 25-23.
Given his age and recent playing history, Lin should consider himself lucky to be able to finish the match in two-sets. The outcome would likely be different should the match being dragged into a decider. The No. 4 seed Lin will play Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark next.
After a slow start, Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia orchestrated a brilliant turnaround to beat Mark Caljouw of Netherlands 19-21, 21-8, 21-16 to set up a second round battle with No. 5 seed Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong.
In their fifth career meeting, unseeded men’s singles player Soong Joo Ven of Malaysia went on to close out his first round match without being seriously threatened by No. 6 seed Khosit Phetpradab of Thailand, winning 21-11, 21-10. Soong will take on Lu Chia Hung of Taiwan on Thursday.
Malaysian women’s singles ace Goh Jin Wei and Chinese player Zhang Yiman fought tooth and nail on Wednesday as Goh ultimately finished the match 18-21, 21-18, 21-18 in 58 minutes. Goh will face Kim Ga Eun of Korea in the second round.
Meanwhile, the newly crowned men’s doubles Malaysian champions, Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi rallied from a set down to beat No. 6 seeds Liao Min Chun/Su Ching Heng 16-21, 21-14, 21-15. The pair will take on Mark Lamsfuss/Marvin Seidel of Germany next.
Two other Malaysian men’s doubles pairs including Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin and No. 8 seeds Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik also advanced to the second round. Goh/Izzuddin will play No. 3 seeds Han Chengkai/Zhou Haodong of China while Chia/Soh will fight Jelle Maas/Robin Tabeling of Netherlands for a spot in the quarter-finals.
