Bangkok: When Tuesday began, the talk was about whether Malaysia’s Chong Wei Feng and Daren Liew could live up to expectations and produce good showings at the Thailand Open in Bangkok.
But at the end of the day, both players had fallen again when they were ousted by their respective opponents in the opener.
No. 11 seed Chong Wei Feng struggled against unseeded Indonesian Simon Santoso as his game fell apart in a 35-minute 4-12, 15-21 rout at the hands of the former world No. 3 from Indonesia.
Daren Liew looked so good after he won the first set with 21-18. Daren fought hard to force deuce and was inches away from reaching the second round before succumbing to world No. 261 Mek Narongrit of Thailand with the same 21-23 score in the second and third set.
Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif and Zulhelmi Zulkiffli also joined Tuesday’s first-round casualties when they both lost to Thai players in the first round.
Independent shuttler Tan Chun Seang became the only Malaysia men’s singles player to reach the second round, beating Chaiyasit Sukasem of Thailand 21-11, 21-12 in 25 minutes to set up a second round clash with No. 15 seed Kazumasa Sakai of Japan on Wednesday.
