March 30 NST LEE Chong Wei began his quest to win his first Asian Badminton Championships title in commanding fashion but Lee Tsuen Seng fell in the men's singles first round at the Johor Baru City Stadium yesterday. Chong Wei, the top seed, brushed aside Macau's Wong Keng Hau with a 21-4, 21-6 win in just 15 minutes to reach the second round. Tsuen Seng did no favour to his bid to keep his place in the national team when he suffered a 8-21, 22-20, 9-21 defeat at the hands of Poompat Sapkulchananart of Thailand. Chong Wei, who meets Lee Cheol Ho of South Korea in the second round today, said adapting better to the new 21-point (point per rally) scoring system was one of his main objectives in the tournament. "Although I was a little exhausted after the Commonwealth Games (in Melbourne last week), I requested to play here to get used to the 21-point system," said Chong Wei. "I need more practice before the Thomas Cup Finals and the Asian Championships is a good event to do it." Second seed Hafiz Hashim, who has been performing well below par his year, also had an easy 21-6, 21-8 win over Balram Thapa of Nepal in his opening round which lasted 25 minutes. Hafiz, seeded second, won three titles last year but his best effort so far this year was a quarter-final berth in the China Masters. He will be looking to better that effort but Indonesia youngster Simon Santoso could foil him in a likely third round match which will be held later today. "The Chinese players are not here so I have a good chance of making at least the semi-finals here," said Hafiz. "My performance dropped in the first few months as I've been competing non-stop towards the end of last year. "However, I have recovered and the 21-point system also seems to help my cause. I have beaten Simon twice and I am aiming for another win." Joint third seed Kuan Beng Hong also booked his second round berth with a 21-5, 21-8 win over Pashupati Paneru of Nepal while Yeoh Kay Bin cleared the first hurdle when he beat Dinuka Edirimuni of Sri Lanka 21-5, 21-8. K. Yogendran also checked in with a 21-17, 21-14 win over Wong Wai Hong of Hong Kong while former international Sairul Amar Ayub advanced to the second round after beating Arvind Bhat of India 21-9, 22-20. Veteran Roslin Hashim was made to work by Niluka Karunaratne of Sri Lanka before securing a 21-13, 21-17 win. But the women’s singles players fared badly as joint third seed Wong Mew Choo and her three compatriots were shown the exit in the first round. Mew Choo, hoping to put the disappointment of losing in the final of the Commonwealth Games behind her, crashed to a shock 20-22, 21-11 defeat to Chinese junior Chen Li. Top seed Wang Chen of Hong Kong ended Julia Wong's challenge with a 21-14, 21-7 win while Lydia Cheah was beaten 21-9, 21-18 by Saina Nehwal of India. Former national players Joanne Quay-Lim Pek Siah joined Commonwealth Games champions Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui in the second round of the doubles after beating Hong Kong's Koon Wai Chee-Wong Sin Yee 21-14, 21-11. Pei Tty-Eei Hui, the top seeds, received a first round bye and play Chang Yu Ju-Cheng Hsiao Yun today.
