Big names out of Hong Kong Badminton Open

HONG KONG - Big names like Taufik Hidayat and Soni Dwi Kuncoro failed to reach the second round at the Hong Kong Badminton Open on Wednesday.

It is also a bitter day for powerhouse China as Chen Jin, Jiang Yanjiao and Wang Zhengming also lost in the first round.

Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, world's first men's singles player to win Olympics, Asian Games, World Championships and Thomas Cup, was surprised by Japan's Takuma Ueda with 19-21, 23-21 and 21-16. Taufik admitted that he would soon retire after several super series and would focus on his badminton club.

"I will still play in Macao, Malaysia, England, India and Indonesia," said Taufik, adding that "The Indonesia Open next June should be the last tournament to play."

Soni Dwi Kuncoro, who won men's singles bronze medal at 2004 Olympics for Indonesia, was beat by 26-year-old Danish Hans- kristian Vittinghus by 2-0.

China's No.3 seed Chen Jin lost to German Marc Zwiebler in men' s singles. Chen blamed the loss to his injury during the China Open, which is used as the same reason by Jiang Yanjiao, who lost to Eriko Hirose of Japan in women's singles.

Wang Zhengming, who finished second place at last week's China Open, was edged out by India's Ajay Jayaram and the score is 22-20, 23-21.

"This is my first time to play at the Hong Kong Coliseum," said Wang. "The opponent prepared better than I did."