Indonesia saw both their men's singles hopes – Jonatan Christie and Anthony Ginting crash out of the Badminton Asia Championships 2019 in Wuhan, China after shock first round defeats on Wednesday.
First to go was sixth seed Ginting who crashed to an 18-21,21-18, 23-25 defeat to Angus Ng Kah Long of Hong Kong China in a marathon 74-minute encounter.
Eighth seed Christie followed next, losing to Japan's Kenta Nishimoto who won his 66-minute three-game match 18-21, 21-19, 21-10. Nishimoto next faces Hong Kong China's Vincent Wong Wing Ki who strolled to an easy 21-19, 21-13 win over Nepal's Ratnajit Tamang.
"I blame myself for the defeat. It was my fault as I gave away easy points and failed to adjust my game when things went against me," said a disappointed Ginting who has never done well in the Badminton Asia Championships.
Meanwhile, top seed and defending champion Kento Momota of Japan was far from pleased with his performance in his first round men's singles match against Korea's Lee Dong Keun.
The world No 1 slogged for 62 minutes before prevailing with a 21-18, 21-17 win to earn a second-round clash against Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong China who beat Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei 21-19, 21-16.
"It was a sluggish performance from me. The first game was bad but I managed to pull through. I played a better game in the second as I found the rhythm.
"I will be in better shape for my second round match…now that I have got the feel of the environment and court conditions," said Momota reigning world champion who beat Chen Long for the Asian title last year.
It was also a winning start for India's Sameer Verma who ousted Japan's Kazumasa Sakai 21-13, 17-21, 21-18 and will meet Ka Long for a place in the quarter-finals.
