Top seed Lee Chong Wei secured an important his first round win against last week’s runner-up Boonsak Ponsana, taking this tournament as one of the last in the year.  Other top seeds progressed as well, except for Joachim Persson, who was shown the exit.

By Emzi Regala, Miyuki Komiya, Badzine Correspondants, live from Tokyo. Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)
Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei (photo) breezed through the 1st round of the 2009 Yonex Open Japan against Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana with scores of 21-9, 21-15.  Very early in the game, the usually methodical and patient Lee Chong Wei displayed very aggressive play, earning his first 5 points on powerful smashes. Ponsana, on the other hand, won most of his points on net rally as he made Lee Chong Wei scramble and dive on several net shots, capitalizing on his opponent’s long standing left knee injury.  But it was Lee’s tenacity early on that gave him the 1st game.  Both players settled in as the 2nd game started.  A controversial call by the line judge put Lee Chong Wei ahead 16-12, and the World Number 1 never looked back eventually walking away with a win. 

‘It was very hard for me to control Lee Chong Wei today," commented the disappointed Boonsak Ponsana, who is now sporting a Kanppo jersey, after the game.  "The game was very tough for me."

Lee Chong Wei, who plans to skip the Hong Kong and China Opens this year in order to recuperate from his injury, felt that his opponent looked tired and looked to have barely recovered from his recent China Masters finals appearance.  "More than the technical skills, I think the challenge for me now is to focus on the mental aspect of my game and keep my self-confidence and drive to win," Lee Chong Wei added after the game.

Other seeds came through some difficult first rounds as well, with Peter Gade, Bao Chunlai and Taufik Hidayat advancing on to the next round. Joachim Persson (photo) was the only one to fall, with a loss to Korea’s Shon, who had already beaten him last time they’d played.

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