HONG KONG OPEN 2011 – Last minute withdrawals

As the first day of the Yonex-Sunrise Hong-Kong Open kicked off for the qualification draws, the main news came with the long list of missing names, for which the Referee of the tournament didn’t have any reasons nor medical certificate. In the women’s singles, there were four withdrawals in the name of Ayane Kurihara, Olga Konon, Jiang Yanjiao and Tapei’s Tai Tzu Ying – some good news for Wang Shixian, who had a tough first round against the Taiwan teenager.

By Raphael Sachetat, live from Hong Kong.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

In the men’s doubles, the duo of Mogensen and Boe didn’t show up, and gave no reason on their Facebook page, mentionning however that they would be travelling next week to Shanghai for the Premier Super Series. Anthony Clark and Chris Langridge were in the initial draw but the former had announced his retirement after the Bitburger Open. Malaysia’s Hoon and Tan also withdrew from the tournament.

In the qualification rounds, held in a bigger stadium on Kowloon but with a narrow 4 court set up, Malaysia’s Kuan Beng Hong and Chan Kwong Beng (here with Misbun Sidek) both bit the dust against USA’s Lee Hock Lai and local boy Wei Nan respectively. Wei went on to defeat Lee to enter the main draw, just like Gurusaidutt, Chou and Bhat.

All results HERE

Live photo Gallery HERE