China had the first jolt to their Olympic campaign with mixed doubles second seeds Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping losing the battle for top place in their group. Defending champion Huang and her partner Feng were outplayed in three games by Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei in their final group clash, 17-21 21-15 21-16.

While the result didn’t jeopardise their path to the quarterfinals, Feng and Huang’s loss meant the possibility of a face-off against compatriots Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong before the final. The draw for the quarterfinals will be conducted after all the group matches.

Chen/Toh played a high-energy game, staying aggressive and constantly driving each other on, while Feng and Huang, after a bright start, seemed to fade under the onslaught. Somewhat surprisingly, the Chinese couldn’t keep up the intensity to challenge the Malaysians.

“They were in great spirits and constantly challenging us,” said Huang. “But this is not the end for us as we are already in the quarterfinals, so we are looking ahead.”

The Malaysians went into the match knowing they had beaten the Chinese once before in three matches – at the Thailand Open last May. In their next two matches they couldn’t take a game off the Chinese.

“This was a time to release our stress,” said Chen. “The most important thing is that we managed to play our strategy and manage ourselves. We trust ourselves and communicated between ourselves very well.”

Meanwhile, in Group A, No.1 seeds Zheng/Huang duly completed their third straight win to take top place beating Kim Won Ho/Jeong Na Eun 21-13 21-14. Despite their loss, Kim/Jeong joined Zheng/Huang in the quarterfinals as they finished second, ahead of Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue and Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari on points.

Opti Retires with Injury

Suriname’s Soren Opti suffered a ligament tear in his right knee and had to retire from his Group A match against Italy’s Giovani Toti.

Toti was 4-1 in the second game when Opti suffered the injury and had to be wheeled off court.

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