Olympic champion Chen Long dumped out of All-England Open, as Hong Kong’s Angus Ng bows out
Chen out of the All-England Open after losing in the second round to Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk, the world number 12 from Thailand
China’s Olympic champion Chen Long was dumped out of the All-England Open on Thursday, losing in the second round to Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk, the world number 12 from Thailand, 21-16, 21-19.
Seven months and an absence of competition made Chen vulnerable and so did Tanongsak’s sensible strategy of not too frequently attacking an opponent who creates brick-wall mid-court defence and turns it into damaging counter-attack.
Meanwhile, Angus Ng Ka-long, the eighth seed and last remaining Hong Kong man in the draw, was well beaten 21-16, 21-14 by Shi Yuqi, the 21-year-old world number 10 from China.
Chen fought hard to close a five-point deficit to 19-19 in the second game, and might well have improved had the match gone to a decider.
Instead on the next point he hurtled a smashed wide, and then lifted the shuttle a little too short to defend against Tanongsak’s attack on match point.
“Every player wants to win this title and I did too,” said 28-year-old Chen. “My ambition is to get back my form.”