Second seed Lee Chong Wei suffered a surprise defeat to Brice Leverdez of France in the first round of the badminton worlds here on Tuesday.

     Twice defending champion and Olympic gold medalist Chen Long of China sailed to the second round with a 21-7, 21-19 win over Georges Julien Paul of Mauritius.

     The 34-year-old Lee, who lost to Chen in the final at the Rio Olympics, saw his chance to win his first world title evaporate as he was shocked by the 31st-ranked Frenchman Brice Leverdez.

     Lee, who finished second three times, lost 19-21, 24-22, 17-21 to the 31-year-old Leverdez.

     "I just tried my best today," said Lee, who surrendered a 15-10 lead in the third game. "Pressure is normal. I didn't play well and I don't blame my game. I just made many simple mistakes."

     When asked whether to fight for another world championships, he said, "I don't know."

     Lee, also a three-time Olympic silver medalist, started this season with his fourth win in All England Open but lost to arch rival Lin Dan of China for two consecutive tournaments, the first in the final of Malaysia Open, and the second in semifinals of Asia Championships.

     Leverdez won his only major world trophy at the 2013 Scottish Open. He will next take on the winner between Misha Zilberman of Israel and Zvonimir Durkinjak of Croatia. 

     Leverdez said: "I do not really care about what seed anyone is, the fact is I played my game and in a relaxed manner."

     Lee's defeat means that Chen will have a more smooth path to the final in the second half, but the fifth seed played down the chance of winning his third successive world title.

     "Of course I hope to win the title again, but first of all you need to do well in each match. Every match is not easy. You need to focus on the next match instead of the semifinal or the final matches."

     Chen's next opponent is 33-year-old Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia, who defeated Milan Ludik of Czech Republic 21-16, 21-7.

     Elsewhere, third seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark fought back from one game down to oust Takuma Ueda of Japan 17-21, 21-6, 21-13 while China's 10th seed Tian Houwei beat Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark 21-14, 17-21, 21-16.

     In the women's competitions, top seed Akane Yamaguchi, who received a bye in the first round, breezed past Denmark's Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt. China's Chen Yufei, Chen Xiaoxin and Sun Yu, the fifth seed, reached the third round.  Enditem

Source:
courtesy of XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

by Xinhua News Agency

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