Hyderabad, March 25 (IANS) The Yonex Sunrise Indian Open badminton championship got off to a sensational start with World No. 1 Malaysian Chong Wei Lee being knocked out by unseeded Chinese player Chen Long in the first round here Wednesday.
World Champion Chong Wei lost 21-7, 16-21, 18-21 to Chen Long at the Gachibowli Stadium here.
Second seed Indian Saina Nehwal was in dominating form as she dispatched Malaysian Chew Yen Daphne NG 21-6, 21-10 in the first round in women's singles.
Out of 33 Indian players in the men's singles, only Anand Pawar, Anup Sridhar and Arvind Bhat sailed into the third round. The biggest casualty was last year's runner-up and third seed Chetan Anand who lost to Wenlong Zhou of China 9-21, 24-22, 8-21. Anand struggled to win the first round against Chong Chieh Lok of Malaysia 14-21, 21-9, 22-20.
Ninth seed Bhat beat Singapore's Yong Zhao Ashton Chen 21-10, 21-12.
Sixth seed Pawar got past Chinese Kai Wen 21-15, 19-21, 21-16 while Sridhar thrashed India's Anshuman Hazarika 21-8, 21-8 in the second round.
Top seed in women's draw Pi Hongyan of France moved to the second round after beating India's Trupti Murgunde 21-18, 21-18.
Top seed Lee's fall came too early in the tournament.
Lee said he was hit by food-poisoning.
'I was suffering from food poisoning and it made me weak. I played well in the first game but could not chase as I felt weak. He (Chen) played well today,' Lee said.
Lee played long rallies and quick smashes to win the first set easily but faltered in the next two, giving away quick points to his fitter opponent.
It was smooth sailing for second seed Indonesian Taufik Hidayat, who beat K. Nandagopal 21-8, 21-13 in 17 minutes.
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