Reigning champions Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong suffered their earliest exit at a major tournament, falling in the second round of the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2021 to Hong Kong China’s Chang Tak Ching/Ng Wing Yung 16-21 21-13 21-17.
The two-time world champions and Olympic silver medallists were playing their first match since losing the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games final in early August.
While the Hong Kong China pair were sharp and gave little away, the Chinese did appear some way from their best. Not since the Korea Open 2018, when they retired early in their opening round, have they exited a tournament so early.
“I think we played quite badly. We weren’t as patient as them, and they were more stable than us, and more fluent,” said Zheng. “We were trying point by point but at the end we couldn’t catch up. We will analyse where we went wrong.”
“We feel really happy and excited,” said Ng Wing Yung, who was the difference between the two sides with her interceptions and net play. “They are No.1 so it’s a big win for us. We tried to keep up the attack. The shuttle was playing a little slow, so we could defend quite well.”
Chang/Ng 🇭🇰 close Day 3️⃣ with a spectacular rally to upset top seeds Zheng/Huang 🇨🇳.#BWFWorldChampionships #Huelva2021 pic.twitter.com/ihkgsd54yV
— BWF (@bwfmedia) December 15, 2021