Jakarta: Unseeded Zulfadli Zulkiffli sailed through his opening match at the Jakarta World Championships on Monday, with a stunning 21-5, 22-20 win over sixth seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the men’s singles first round.
A former world junior champion, Zulfadli Zulkiffli, based his strategy on quickness, and heavy dose of smashes that ended up befuddling Chou and bedazzling spectators in the Istora Senayan Sports Complex, Jakarta.
“I was lucky to win the match, hopefully I could play better in the upcoming matches,” said Zulfadli.
Meanwhile, Chou Tien Chen has only himself to blame for this first round exit.
“I wasn’t fully prepared and completely lose control in the first set. I was under considerable pressure in the second set since it was a very close game, and I ended up losing the match in straight-sets,” said Chou.
Zulfadli next faces Ireland player Scott Evans in the second round.
Malaysian mixed doubles Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying who were rewarded last minute tickets to the world meet overcame Howard Shu/Eva Lee of USA 21-19, 21-18 in 31 minutes to advance to the second round of mixed doubles. They will play reigning Australian Champions Reginald Lee Chun Hei/Chau Hoi Wah of Hong Kong on Tuesday.
Other Malaysian mixed doubles pairs Tan Aik Quan/Lai Pei Jing, Wong Fai Yin/Chow Mei Kuan also emerged victorious in their openers on Monday. Tan Aik Quan/Lai Pei Jing will take on No. 6 seeds Lu Kai/Huang Yaqiong in second round, while Wong Fai Yin/Chow Mei Kuan will clash with Riky Widianto/Puspita Richi Dili of Indonesia next. Unfortunately, Tan Chee Tean/Shevon Jemie Lai weren’t able to join their teammates in round two after losing to Ronan Labar/Emilie Lefel of France 18-21, 20-22.
Tee Jing Yi got the better of Italian Jeanine Cicognini on Monday to play reigning world champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the second round of women’s singles. However, Lyddia Cheah Yi Yu suffered a 23-25, 13-21 defeat to unheralded Turkey player Ozge Bayrak in 34 minutes.
The World Championships will feature the sport’s biggest superstars, including Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan, Chen Long, Carolina Marin and more on Tuesday.