World No. 2 Peter Gade failed to enter the men's singles
quarterfinals at the China Open badminton?in Guangzhou?on
Thursday, beaten by Chinese 17-year-old Gong Weijie in straight
sets 15-8, 15-11.
The European champion started slow and trailed 7-0 at the very
beginning. He then managed a couple of points but it was too
latefor him to find the pace.
"Gong is amazing and he played very well tonight," Gade
said.
"I knew little about him and now I think I will have one more
tough opponent in the future competitions," he added.
Gong seldom competed in the senior tournaments and his best
record up to now is the runner-up in the 2004 world junior
championships.
"I didn't expect to beat Gade. He is a world known veteran
anyway," Gong said.
"It's the first time I met him, but I didn't think too much and
just concentrated on the competition.
"Of course my coach and I studied his game before the match, but
I think the main reason why I could win is that I played slow and
he doesn't fit my style. You know, he likes to play fast," Gong
said.
A second surprise came from another Chinese teenager Li Yu.
The19-year-old downed fourth-seeded Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia
17-15, 15-4.
Eighteen-year-old Chen Jin of China, who ousted his teammate and
former world No. 1 Xia Xuanze, advanced further through Agus
Hariyanto of Chinese Hong Kong.
China books six quarterfinal berths with its world No. 1 Lin
Dan, fifth-seeded Bao Chunlai and sixth-seeded Chen Hong all
through with ease.
The other two berths went to Dane Kenneth Jonassen and Olympic
champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, who conquered Chinese Wu
Yunyong 15-8, 15-11.
(Xinhua News Agency November 12, 2004)