Lin Dan Cup king June Wei suffers another early exit

KUALA LUMPUR: Cheam June Wei's struggles to translate his remarkable Lin Dan Cup success into consistent performances on the World Tour continued after he suffered another early exit at the Hylo Open in Saarbrucken, Germany, on Wednesday.

The world No. 57 fell 21-18, 21-17 to India's world No. 55 Kiran George in 35 minutes in their opening-round encounter at the Saarlandhalle.

It was June Wei's second defeat in as many meetings against Kiran, having also lost 21-14, 21-13 to the Indian in the qualifying round of last year's Hong Kong Open.

The latest setback exposed June Wei's inconsistent form on the international circuit, where he has struggled to reproduce the performances that have made him a formidable competitor at the Lin Dan Cup.

The independent shuttler captured his fifth Lin Dan Cup title in China in August, becoming only the second player after China's Zhao Junpeng to achieve the feat.

His dominance in the invitational competition is no small achievement, considering the strength of China's domestic players, who are certainly no pushovers.

In fact, June Wei defeated former world No. 11 Jun Peng in the final of the Chenzhou edition in July to secure his fourth title before adding another crown in Jincheng the following month.

Yet, that impressive record has not translated into similar success on the World Tour, with semi-final appearances at the Korea Masters (Super 300) in August and Ruichang China Masters (Super 100) in March standing out as his best results this season.

June Wei also reached the finals of the lower-tier Azerbaijan International and Phuket International Challenge, but has otherwise struggled to make a significant impact at higher-level tournaments.

June Wei will now turn his attention to next week's Korea Open, a Super 500 tournament in Yeosu from Nov 3-8, where he faces the additional challenge of negotiating two qualifying rounds to secure a place in the main draw.

Meanwhile, men's singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia and mixed doubles pair Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing advanced to the second round.

Zii Jia overcame Singapore's Teh Jia Heng 21-16, 19-21, 21-17, while Pang Ron-Pei Jing defeated the Netherlands' Joep Strooper-Sterre Bang 21-13, 21-13 in just 25 minutes.