BWF Malaysia Masters 2020 Men’s Singles: Chou Tien Chen knocked out, other top seeds advance

The third day of BWF World Tour Super 500 Malaysia Masters event being held in Kuala Lumpur saw a couple of upsets and a rather surprising result. The line-up for the quarterfinals to be played on Friday was determined and some very exciting matches are in prospect for the last-8 stage.

Here's a lookback at an eventful day in the first World Tour event of 2020.

As expected, World No.1 Kento Momota easily made his way through to the quarters by defeating India’s HS Prannoy in straight games 21-14, 21-16. But the second seed Chou Tien Chen was surprisingly knocked out by a defeat at the hands of Hong Kong’s NG Ka Long Angus, that too in just two games, 23-21, 21-17.

This is a big setback for the Taiwanese as he was one of the few players who challenged Momota last year.

Apart from this, though, other top seeds went through easily. Olympic Champion Chen Long defeated Hong Kong Open winner Lee Cheuk Yiu 21-18, 21-13 to put out any hope of another big upset by the Shuttler from Hong Kong.

Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie too made his way into the last 8 easily by defeating Denmark’s unseeded player Rasmus Gemke 22-20, 21-13. In a good result for China, 2018 All England Champion Shi Yu Qi triumphed over his compatriot Lu Guang Zu 21-16, 21-12. Since Shi is the future of China in this division, his getting back into form is crucial for his country.

2017 World Champion Viktor Axelsen also proceeded to a spot in the quarterfinal with a win over Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto 21-6, 21-17. However, Axelsen’s teammate Jan O Jorgensen lost to China’s Huang Yu Xiang in three games, 14-21, 21-19, 21-18.

Lastly, in a match that was hard to predict, Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia, who defeated Anders Antonsen on Wednesday, got the better of India’s Sameer Verma.

Could Lee emerge as the men’s singles player that Malaysia is looking for after the retirement of Lee Chong Wei? Only time will tell.

Edited by Prasen Moudgal