It was not to be for Carolina Marin as she went down in straight games to Japanese shuttler Nozomi Okuhara in today’s Australian Open Superseries first round match. The Spaniard - who won the Sydney event in 2015 - was knocked out 12-21, 19-21 after 47 minutes.
„Our falls help us to learn and make us to stand up... Looking forward the the World Championships. Thank you for your support. Bye, Australia“, the Olympic Champion wrote on her official Facebook page.
The second seeded Marin, who will be looking to win her third straight World Championships title in August in Glasgow, won the European Championships for the third straight time in April but has yet to win a Superseries title this season.
Click here for all results in the Women's singles
Title holder Vittinghus through to second round
Title holder Hans-Kristian Vittinghus eased past Siril Verma of India in straight games 21-16, 21-8 to reach the second round and will meet seventh seed NG Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong after he got the better of Ajay Jayaram of India 14-21, 21-10, 21-9.
„I got a good start to my title defense here in Sydney with a 21-16 21-8 win against the World Junior Silver Medalist Siril Verma. I felt good on court today and I am pleased with giving a fully focused performance. Hoping to keep the winning streak going“, Vittinghus said.
Ouseph endured a tense opening game in his encounter, but still prevailed 21-19, 21-13 to book his second round spot. His opponent, India’s H S Prannoy had taken out Chen Long and Lee Chong Wei in the past seven days en route to the BCA Indonesia Open semi finals and confidently led 14-10 in the middle of the opener, but Ouseph won 11 of the next 16 points to take the game.
The players then traded blows in the early stages of the second game, but from 5-5 Ouseph found another gear and drove ahead to secure a comfortable victory against a fast rising opponent ranked higher in the world standings. He faces China's Tian Houwei tomorrow.
Denmark’s Jan Ø. Jørgensen had to exit the tournament, as the fifth seeded former European Champion retired because of an old injury - when trailing 23-25, 21-12, 14-9 to Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.
Click here for all results in the men's singles
The Adocks off to a good start
England’s Chris and Gabby Adcock have safely secured their places in the second round with wins overnight. The European Champions each came through their matches in straight games.
It was plain sailing for the Adcocks, though, as they beat home pairing Tiffany Ho and Simon Wing Hang Leung 21-15 21-13 in Sydney. The Badminton England pairing, the highest ranked European mixed doubles pair in the world, eased to victory in the opening game, never falling behind and at one point opening up an 11-point lead, only to see it trimmed to six at the conclusion. And it was a similar story in the second game, with the duo streaking away having been tied early on at 2-2. The fifth seeds will now play Korea’s Choi Solgyu and Chae Yoo Jung in the second round.
Click here for all results in the mixed doubles.
Tomorrow’s matches with European interest:
MS: Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (DEN) - NG Ka Long Angus (HGK)
MS: Rajiv Ouseph (ENG) - Tian Houwei (CHN)
XD: Chris Adcock/Gabby Adcock (ENG) - Choi Solgyu/Chae Yoo Jung (KOR)
WD: Kamilla Rytter Juhl/Christinna Pedersen (DEN) - Chae Yoo Jung/Kim So Yeong (KOR)
Recent Australian Open champions from Europe:
2016: Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (Denmark) / Men's singles
2015: Carolina Marin (Spain) / Women's singles
Click here for all results of the Australian Open Superseries.
Article by Manuel Rösler. Photo (LIVE) by BadmintonPhoto.