Hidayat knocked out of Japan badminton tournament

Downcast Athens Olympic gold medallist Taufik Hidayat became the first major casualty at the Japan Open when he crashed out to Taiwan's Chou Tien-chen in the opening round on Wednesday.The out-of-form fifth seed from Indonesia, who has yet to win a title this season, struggled throughout the 53-minute match before losing 21-17, 12-21, 21-18. "I couldn't play well at all. I couldn't find the way to attack. I've lost my confidence," said Hidayat, 30."I enjoyed playing badminton in the old days. I want to regain my form, but I'm not sure how long I continue to play.  There was no such trouble for defending champion and world number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, who eased past Rajiv Ouseph of England 21-13, 21-13. "I feel good. This is my first match of the tournament so I tried to play in my rhythm and check the court conditions," said the top seed, who needed only 25 minutes to beat Ouseph. Meanwhile, Chinese star Lin Dan, the winner here in 2005 and 2006, needed three games and 43 minutes to beat 2002 champion Lee Hyun-Il of South Korea 21-16, 11-21, 21-12. "I was too careless in the second game, besides, it was a bit difficult because of the winds (caused by the air conditioning)," said the world champion."But everybody is the same at the beginning of a tournament. I'll get better as it goes on," the second seed added. In the women's singles, Chinese top two seeds Wang Yihan and Wang Shixian advanced to the next round in a different style with world champion Wang Yihan coasting to an easy 21-14, 21-8 win over Yao Jie of the Netherlands. Wang Shixian, who claimed the prestigious All England in March, had a tougher time beating her former teammate, Pi Hongyan of France, 21-9, 12-21, 21-11. Seventh seed Cheng Shao-chieh of Taiwan became the first seed to fall earlier in the day when she abandoned the match to Japan's Sayaka Sato with a foot injury at 15-21, 4-11 down. But other seeds -- 2007 champion Tine Baun of Denmark, China's Wang Xin and Liu Xin, Indian star Saina Nehwal and Juliane Schenk of Germany -- safely went through. Fifth seed Baun came back from a game down to beat Hong Kong's Tse Ying-suet 19-21, 21-7, 21-17, while third seed Wang Xin overwhelmed Bae Youn-Joo of South Korea 21-8, 21-9. Sixth seed Liu Xin whipped Yip Pui-yin of Hong Kong 21-15, 21-17, Nehwal defeated Inthanon Ratchanok of Thailand 21-17, 21-10 and Schenk downed Japan's Ai Goto 21-10, 21-8.