Au Revoir, Chong Wei - Lee Chong Wei’s dream of becoming a world champion is all over.
The 34-year-old Chong Wei suffered a shock 19-21, 24-22, 17-21 defeat to Brice Leverdez of France in a tense 75-minute first-round men’s singles match in the World Badminton Championships at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, yesterday.
It was Chong Wei’s second loss to Leverdez after going down to the Frenchman at the Denmark Open last year.
Yesterday, the second-seeded Malaysian got off to a sloppy start to trail Leverdez 10-15 in the first game.
Chong Wei then stepped on the gas to level it at 15-15.
But Leverdez refused to budge and kept piling on the pressure to take the opener.
It looked like the Frenchman was heading for a straight-game victory when he raced into a comfortable 16-9 lead to put the Malaysian camp in a sombre mood.
But Chong Wei refused to give up and put up a determined fight to level at 17-17 before pulling away for a 24-22 win.
It looked as though Chong Wei was ready to restore order when he raced to a 14-9 lead in the decider.
But Leverdez had other ideas as he muscled his way back into contention to romp home for one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament.
There was some good news for Malaysia when mixed doubles pair Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, who received a first-round bye, advanced to the third round with a 21-18, 21-10 win over Ronan Labar-Audrey Fontaine of France.
They will take on 13th seeds Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping of China next.
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