Jakarta: Chen Long, the World No. 1 men’s singles shuttler from China withdrew from BCA Indonesia Open, in a surprise move that blamed on a waist injury.
Chen Long was supposed to play Indonesian shuttler Sony Dwi Kuncoro on Wednesday, but his withdrawal allowed Kuncoro to advance to second round without breaking a sweat.
“Chen Long who was set to play on Wednesday, provided a walkover due to waist injury,” said PBSI in their Twitter account.
Interesting enough, Chinese badminton superstar Lin Dan also withdrew from his men’s singles semi-final at the Asian Championships in April 2012 due to a recurring waist injury. Lin’s withdrawal then sent third seed Chen Jin straight to the final where he ended up defeated compatriot Du Pengyu 21–12, 21–18 in the final. Chen Jin’s Asian Championships title allowed him to barely qualified for the 2012 London Olympics in last minute.
Besides Chen, Kim Gi Jun/Kim Sa Rang of Korea also provided a walkover, allowing Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia to advance to the second round.
The Indonesia Open 2016 offers the largest prize money among BWF-sanctioned badminton tournaments with a whopping prize of USD $900,000.
