Tine Baun’s comeback to the badminton world stage ended in tears when the Dane lost to unseeded Chen Jiayuan of Singapore in the second round of the Indian Open Super Series on Thursday. The two-time All England champion, making a return after a 10-week injury layoff, had few answers to the power-packed game of her 53rd-ranked rival, going down 21-13, 21-11.
Baun, the world number nine, was looking to improve her ranking at the tournament, but instead joined top seed Saina Nehwal of India on the contest’s scrap heap. Japanese fifth seed Eriko Hirose was also shown the door, losing to Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand 21-9, 15-21, 22-20. In the men’s singles, top seed Lee Chong-Wei of Malaysia cruised into the quarter-finals with an easy 21-13, 21-17 win over Korea’s Lee Hyun-Il.
Chong-Wei, the world number one, slammed in 20 winners and was hardly tested in the one-sided encounter that lasted barely half an hour. Indonesian second seed Taufik Hidayat and Denmark’s Peter Gade also made it to the last eight of the $200,000 event, the fourth stop in the World Super Series. Hidayat quelled a spirited challenge from home favourite Parupalli Kashyap with a 21-17, 21-19 win while Gade, the world number six, thrashed Japanese Sho Sasaki 21-12, 21-17.
“It wasn’t an easy match,” said Hidayat, the world number three. “Kashyap is a good player but he made many mistakes today, especially the last point when his serve hit the net. “I have played him thrice now and each of the matches has been close. Today I was plain lucky.” India’s Sourabh Verma prevailed over Japanese seventh seed Kenichi Tago 21-19, 18-21, 21-11 in the only upset of the day in the men’s section.
