Badminton star Chen Long fell to 21-year-old Lu Guangzu in straight sets, while Lin Dan claimed a hard-fought victory in the men's singles second round at the 13th Chinese National Games on Tuesday.
Both Chen and Lin enjoyed a first-round bye. Chen, Rio Olympic gold medalist and two-time world champion, met Lu of Jiangsu province in the round of 16. He encountered tough resistance from the young player and made many mistakes before losing 19-21 and 13-21.
"When I was leading at 18-15 in the first set, I lost several points, which influenced me a lot," said Chen.
"Today my opponent was fighting from the start to the end. His is very fast. Meanwhile I was not so focused after the team event."
Chen led Fujian province enter into the men's team final, but they were defeated 3-2 by Beijing, spearheaded by Lin Dan.
Chen admitted that competing at the World Championships and National Games in a row made him a bit tired. "From team to singles event, I'm not so focused on the court. My legs were also injured. Anyway I will learn from the experience in these two competitions."
Chen was defeated by Axelsen in the semifinals of the World Championships in the end of August, after which he and his national teammates came back directly from Glasgow, Scotland to Tianjin, 140 kilometers southeast of Beijing, the host city of China's 13th National Games.
Two-time Olympic and five-time world champion Lin also had a tough time in the second round. He was pushed to three sets by Wu Xin of the People's Liberation Army team before claiming a hard-fought 21-19, 22-24 and 21-15 victory.
"Today I had numerous mistakes, my performance was not as good as I expected," said Lin.
Lin is always dominant in the National Games, held every four years. He has participated in five National Games since 2001 and entered all of the four men's singles finals before. He won gold medals in 2005, 2009 and 2013, and will fight for a fourth consecutive crown at the Games for yet another record.
"Many people believe that I can win the match, but at the National Games, if I don't present one hundred percent of my best form, I will face tough challenge," added Lin.
The National Games, billed as China's mini-Olympics, has long been a fierce battlefield for the participants. Besides Lin, Rio Olympic gold medalists Chen Long, Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan, newly-crowned world champions Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan, and other shuttlers who have recently retired from international competition such as Wang Yihan and Wang Shixian also represent their respective home provinces or municipalities in the country's premier sporting event.
