Chong Wei crashes out of All-England

PETALING JAYA: It's the end of the road for Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei in the first round of the All-England badminton tournament..

The world no. 2, a three-time All-England champion, delivered an uncharacteristic performance as he went down 22-24, 20-22 to India's B. Sai Praneeth in Birmingham on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old Chong Wei led 15-7 in the first game and 16-10 in the second game but the 23-year-old Praneeth managed to come back in style for his biggest career win.

The defeat is Chong Wei's first since a second round loss to Hong Kong's Wei Nan at the Denmark Open last October and he will want to bounce back at the Swiss Open next week.

World No. 37 Praneeth will meet Denmark's Hans-Kristian Vittinghus in the second round.

Men's doubles pairs Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong and Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong however, both cleared their first hurdles.

V Shem-Wee Kiong needed three games to beat Thailand's Bodin Issara-Nipitphon Puangpuapech 16-21, 21-13, 21-9 to set up a second round clash with fifth seeds Chai Biao-Hong Wei of China.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong were also taken to the distance by India's Manu Attri-B. Summeth Reddy. They won 16-21, 21-13, 21-15 and will meet second seeds Mohd Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan next.

Mixed pair Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying and women's singles shuttler Tee Jing Yi both crashed out in the first round as well.