Seeds Tumble in Opening Test – Day 2: Perodua Malaysia Masters 2018
The Men’s Singles draw at the Perodua Malaysia Masters 2018 reeled with the exit of many of its biggest names, on an unusual day at the Axiata Arena today.
· DEV SUKUMAR
The biggest casualty was home superstar Lee Chong Wei, who joined fellow-seeds Lin Dan, Chen Long, Son Wan Ho and Chou Tien Chen on the sidelines of the Super 500 event.
Lee suffered an agonising early exit at his home event, beaten in three tight games by Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto, 19-21 21-18 21-19. That came after Chen Long’s 21-17 21-15 loss to Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting and Lin Dan’s 21-16 18-21 21-17 loss to another Indonesian, Ihsan Maulana Mustofa.
Both Lee and Lin would rue their missed chances. Lee blew an 18-16 lead in the second with Nishimoto (featured image) having virtually gifted him three straight points; the Malaysian was unable to capitalise and let his opponent right back in with inconsistent play.