Birmingham: After crashing out from the first round of the German Open last Wednesday, reigning World Champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore was bounced by World No. 3 Anders Antonsen of Denmark in the opener of 2022 All England on Wednesday, losing 15-21, 21-18, 13-21.
Antonsen earned the win in the first game 21-15 against the Singaporean by attacking mostly at Loh’s forehand mid to backcourt area.
Loh upped the tempo at the second game, breaking Antonsen’s rhythm to claim the second set 21-18.
The Dane dominated the decider with faster speed, greater anticipation at the net, and managed to pressure Loh to commit unforced errors to eventually beat the World No. 9 Singaporean 21-13 to set up a second-round battle with Lakshya Sen of India on Thursday.
“My defeat to Loh at World Championships has been haunting me a lot, very happy to get revenge today,” said Antonsen.
“When my shot quality was good, I was able to neutralize him. But, he managed to punish me when my shot quality was bad,” added Antonsen.
Loh told the reporter after the match that Antonsen was playing much better in the decider.
“He was really focused in the third set. He kept the rally going very well and didn’t make a lot of unforced errors,” said Loh.
“I am still working on improving myself, there’s a barrier that I need to overcome,” added Loh.
Another Danish player – the World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen faced some tough challenges from India’s Sai B Praneeth but had a relatively easy second game to ease past the Indian 22-20, 21-11. Axelsen will take on Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands in the second round.
The Malaysian men’s singles department saw stellar results on Wednesday. 34-year old Daren Liew eliminated 23-year-old Toma Junior Popov of France 21-15, 21-19 to meet World No. 4 Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan for a spot in the quarter-finals.
On the other hand, the defending champion – Lee Zii Jia, was able to beat Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in straight-sets 21-16, 21-17, and will play Brian Yang of Canada on Thursday.
In men’s doubles, World No. 17 Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin of Malaysia who won last week’s German Open, put up a strong fight against World No. 19 He Ji Ting/Tan Qiang of China. Not sure if the Malaysian pair was tired or because Izzuddin still recovering from the right knee injury he sustained in the German Open final last Sunday, they were too passive on their shots in the third set, and ultimately went down to He/Tan 15-21, 21-19, 11-21 in 52 minutes.
Another Malaysian men’s pair – the World No. 11 Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi who went down to Goh/Izzuddin in the quarter-finals of last week’s German Open, had advanced to the All England second round by beating Callum Hemming/Steven Stallwood of England 21-14, 21-12. Ong/Teo will play Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Bagas Maulana of Indonesia next.
One Yew Sin also made the mixed doubles second round, after he and Goh Liu Ying defeated Callum Hemming/Jessica Pugh of England 17-21, 21-17, 21-11 in the first round.
Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik who skipped last week’s German Open, were untroubled in the first round, seeing off Christopher Grimley/Matthew Grimley of Scotland 21-14, 21-19 to set up a second round battle against He Ji Ting/Tan Qiang.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s young men’s pair Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun gave reigning World Champions – Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi of Japan a huge scare in the first round, coming back from 8-16 in the decider to tie the game at 20-20, before losing the match 17-21, 21-18, 21-23 to the No. 3 seeds from Japan.
