PETALING JAYA: Chinese shuttler Ren Xiangyu felt like he was flying in the universe after combining with He Jiting to take down reigning world champions Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae of South Korea in the first round of the All-England.
It was rather an apt statement from the 25-year-old as his name means ‘flying in the universe’.
Xiangyu and Jiting were on cloud nine after pulling off the impressive 21-14, 21-13 victory over the Koreans in just 35 minutes at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham on Wednesday.
It was swift revenge for world No. 13 Jiting-Xiangyu after losing in the second round to the world No. 2 Min-hyuk-Seung-jae in the French Open in Paris last week. The Koreans went on to reach the semis.
“It’s a great start to the week for me and Jiting. I absolutely feel like I am flying in the universe,” said a thrilled Xiangyu in a post match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The win was another feather in the cap for Jiting and Xiangyu, who were only combined last year after ending their partnerships with Zhou Haodong and Tan Qiang respectively.
The Chinese pair did not take long to find their feet together as they went on to capture the Japan Masters last November, Thailand Masters in January and finished as the runners-up in the German Open earlier this month.
Jiting-Xiangyu will next look to build on their famous win in their first All-England together when they face Denmark’s Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard in the second round.
Meanwhile, it was a disappointing outing for Seung-jae, who also suffered a rare first round exit in the mixed doubles along with Chae Yu-jung after they lost 17-21, 10-21 to Taiwan’s world No. 12 Ye Hong-wei-Lee Chia-hsin.
The loss was even more surprising considering that Seung-jae-Yu-jung had finished runners-up in the French tourney.
