Badminton

Tze Yong sets All England date with world No 1 Axelsen

KUALA LUMPUR: Ng Tze Yong marked his All England debut in an emphatic fashion when he thrashed Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia 21-9, 21-12 in the opening round at Utilita Arena Birmingham on Tuesday.

The world No 28 will next face world No 1 and reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen, who is also the defending champion, in a dream second-round showdown.

Axelsen, the top seed, survived a scare as he needed one hour to overcome Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu 19-21, 21-15, 21-11 in his first-round match.

Tze Yong's devastating form against Shesar is certainly an encouraging sign.

The shuttler had focused on strength training before the tournament after his quarter-final exit from the Thailand Masters in early February.

Against Axelsen, Tze Yong will have a chance to gauge his standard against the best player in the world.

Meanwhile, independent women's pair Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien were early casualties after they went down 21-19, 18-21, 21-15 to Anne Tran-Margot Lambert.

RESULTS:

Men's singles: Ng Tze Yong (Mas) bt Shesar Hiren Rhustavito (Ina) 21-9, 21-12; Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Rasmus Gemke (Den) 21-16, 21-18;

Men's doubles: Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Keiichiro Matsui-Yoshinori Takeuchi (Jpn) 21-12, 21-14;

Women's doubles: Margot Lambert-Anne Tran (Fra) bt Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien (Mas) 21-19, 18-21, 21-15.

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