Hyun Il glad to make main draw

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Former Asian Games men’s singles runner-up, Lee Hyun Il of South Korea had to work double hard to beat Malaysia’s Chan Kwong Beng before booking his place in the main draw of the PROTON Malaysia Open, the opening event of the 2011 OSIM BWF World Superseries.

Hyun Il, who has played in only seven tournaments since coming out of retirement for last year's Thomas Cup, was made to sweat by the up coming Malaysian before winning 21-16, 18-21, 21-18 in 57 minutes at the Putra Stadium in Kuala Lumpur today.

The South Korean, who will now play England's Rajiv Ouseph in the main draw, said: "It feels good to make the main draw. It was a tough match and I'm glad I pulled through."

Should Hyun Il manage to overcome his opponent, he faces a daunting task in the second round as will likely face three-time world champion Lin Dan of China.

The reigning Olympic and Asian Games gold medallist meets compatriot Wang Zhengming in the opening round.

Kwong Beng, meanwhile, was dejected he failed to capitalise on a good opportunity to beat is 30-year-old opponent.

"I had my chances but failed to take them. Maybe if I was more composed, I would have beaten him," said the Malaysian back-up shuttler.

Meanwhile, former Asian champion Sony Dwi Kuncuro pulled out of the tournament with a back injury which has been hurting him for nearly a year.

Joining Kuncoro on the sidelines are women’s singles player Adriyanti Firdasari and fourth seed women’s doubles pairing Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhary.

Firdasari also has a back injury while Polii-Jauhary have not had time to prepare following their run at the VICTOR BWF Super Series Finals in Taiwan early this year.

Kuncoro and Firdasari are also likely to miss next week's US$1.2 million VICTOR Korea Open.

Due to his huge prize money, the VICTOR Korea Open has been listed as one of the five OSIM BWF World Superseries Premier tournaments.

The other four tournaments which are part of the OSIM BWF World Superseries Premier are YONEX All England Superseries Premier 2011 (March 8-13), DJARUM Indonesian Open Superseries Premier 2011 (June 21-26), Denmark Superseries Premier 2011 (Oct 18-23) and LI NING China Open Superseries Premier 2011 (Nov 22-27).

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