Rio de Janeiro Olympic women's singles medal winners – Spain's Carolina Marin (gold), India's P.V. Sindhu (silver) and Japan's Nozomi Okuhara (bronze) are among the big names who have withdrawn from the USD600,000 Victor Korea Superseries which began at the Seong-nam Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.
Marin was seeded No 1 while Nozomi. who failed to retain her title in the Japan Open after losing to compatriot Akane Yamaguchi in the quarter-finals, was seeded No 2. Thailand's former world champion Ratchanok Intanon is seeded No 3 with Taiwan's Tai Tzu Ying No 4. Defending champion Sung Ji-hyung is seeded No 5.
Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei, who won his sixth Japan Open last week has also withdrawn. The Rio Olympics silver medal winner was the top seed in the Korea Open while China's Chen Long, the defending champion and Rio gold medallist is not competing this year.
Meanwhile, two Koreans, an Indian and a Japanese came through the qualifying rounds to make the main draw in the men's singles.
The Koreans are Seo Seung-jae who will face Brice Leverdez in the first round while compatriot Heo Kwang-hee, best remembered for defeating Chong Wei in the first round of the qualifiers last year, will meet Denmark's Anders Antonsen. Antonsen himself was promoted from the qualifying round.
India's P. Kashyap faces fourth seed Tian Houwei of China in the opening match while Japan's Kazumasa Sakai will take on home favourite Lee Hyun-ill.
In the mixed doubles China's newly crowned Japan Open champions Zheng Siwei-Chen Qingchen got off to a winning start the easy way. The world junior champions advanced to the second round when Choi Soi-gyu-Chae Yoo-jung of Korea retired with the score 11-8 in favour of the Chinese.
Fourth seeds Lu Kai-Huang Yaqiong of China also cleared their first hurdle, getting past Chan Yan Tuck-Kawasaki Yuko of USA. The Chinese won the first 21-5 and were leading 6-3 in the second when their opponents retired.
Korea's world No 1 Lee Yong-dae-Yoo Yeon-seong the top seeds in the men's doubles are strongly tipped to retain their title after their disappointing sojourn in Rio.
China's Chai Biao, who suffered a shock first round exit in the Japan Open are seeded No 2 while Indonesia's world champions Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan are seeded third. Denmark's Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen, seeded No 4, have withdrawn.
FIRST ROUND RESULTS
(Mixed Doubles)
Huang Kaixiang-Lu Xiaohan (chn) beat Park Se-woong-Kim So-yeong (Kor) 15-21, 22-20, 21-8
Kim Duk-young-Kim Hye-rin (Kor) beat Mark Lansfuss-Isabel Hettrich (Ger) 21-17, 21-16
Kenta Kazuno-Ayane Kurihara (Jpn) beat Ben Lane-Jessica pugh (Eng) 21-16, 21-13
Lu Kai-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) beat Chan Yan Tuck-Kawasaki Yuko (USA) 21-5, 6-3 (rtd)
Kim Dae-eun-Go Ah-ra (Kor) Yehezkiel Fritz Mainaky-Lyanny Alessandra Mainaky (Ina) 21-7, 21-9
Anders Skaarup Rasmussen-Saraj Thygesen (Den) beat Liao Min-chun-Chen Hsia-huan (*Tpe) 21-13, 21-16
Lee Yang-Hsu Ya-ching (Tpe) beat Soren Gravholt-Maiken Fruergaard (Den) 21-14, 18-21, 21-18
Zheng Siwei-Chen Qingchen (Chn) beat Choi Soi-gyu-Chae Yoo-jung (Kor) 11-8 (rtd)
Jacco Arends-Selena Piek (Ned) beat Matthew Nottingham-Emily Westwood (Eng) 21-15, 22-20
Reginald Lee Chun Hei-Chau Hoi Wah (Hkg) beat Kim Gi-jung-Shin Seung-chan (Kor) 21-17, 22-20
Chung Eui-seok-Yoo Hae-won (Kor) beat Marvin Emil Seidel-Linda Efler (Ger) 21-12, 21-12
