Wei Feng is one lucky guy
Last-minute pullouts see Wei Feng in main draw
PETALING JAYA: Lady luck must have smiled on Chong Wei Feng.
The 27-year-old has benefited from several eleventh hour withdrawals to gain direct entry into the men’s singles main draw of the Singapore Open Superseries badminton championships.
Wei Feng, a replacement for Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia, will take on world No. 29 Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka, also of Indonesia, in the first round at the Singapore Indoor Stadium today.
Like Wei Feng, Dionysius also got lucky, replacing Japanese Sho Sasaki.
“I’m happy to get into the main draw,” said Wei Feng.
“It’s taxing to play two (qualifying) matches a day and I’m relieved to avoid that.
“I’m looking to regain my best form. It’s important because I have yet to feel right since returning from a hamstring injury.
“It’s about getting myself back in competitive mood.
“If I can do that, good results will come eventually,” added Wei Feng.
Wei Feng is not the only Malaysian to make the main draw. Independent Mohd Arif Abdul Latif won both his matches in the qualifiers yesterday.
Mohd Arif took only 19 minutes to beat Russia’s Vladimir Ivanov 21-12, 21-6 in his opening match. He then outplayed Singapore’s Derek Wong Zi Liang 21-12, 21-16 to set up a first-round clash with Indonesia’s Simon Santoso today.
Former world junior champion Zulfadli Zulkiffli was forced to retire due to exhaustion during his second-round match against India’s B. Sai Praneeth. He was then trailing 6-11.
In the first round, Zulfadli was stretched to the limit by Thailand’s Suppanyu Avihingsanon before winning 19-21, 23-21, 21-16. Forty minutes later, he was on court again to take on Praneeth.
Zulfadli hit out at the organisers for their poor scheduling.
“I couldn’t continue, my body just couldn’t take it anymore.
“I was really exhausted after battling for 81 minutes in the first round. Then, I was back on court after a 40-minute rest. That was poor scheduling for a Superseries event,” said Zulkifli.
Liew Daren, the other Malaysian representative, did not even get past the first round. He was sent packing 21-13, 14-21, 21-17 by Ajay Jayaram of India.
In the women’s singles, Tee Jing Yi showed no signs of being affected by her calf injury.
The world No. 66 did well to beat South Korea’s Kim Hyo-min 21-9, 21-13 in the opening round. She then secured her main draw berth by ousting Jauza Fadhila Sugiarto of Indonesia 22-20, 22-12.