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EARLY DISMISSAL: Yesterday's loss was the first time Susilo (facing camera) had bowed out in the opening round of the Singapore Open. -- ST PHOTO: ALBERT SIM
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TOO many mistakes. Too anxious to win.
Boonsak Ponsana had Ronald Susilo scrambling for answers after outclassing Singapore's top shuttler in the opening round of the Aviva Open Singapore yesterday.
The Thai defending champion, ranked 14th in the world, triumphed 21-14, 21-16 in their highly anticipated encounter at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
It was an unfortunate case of deja vu for world No27 Susilo, who had lost to Boonsak at the semi-final stage last year and at the quarter-finals of the Athens Olympics in 2004.
The match between the pair, who have met eight times, with Susilo winning on two occasions, was not the closely fought contest that many had anticipated.
Perhaps the pressure got to the Singaporean, who started well and stormed to an 11-8 lead in the first game.
To Susilo's shock, he then conceded eight points in a row.
And as his lead evaporated, so did his confidence.
He had no answer to Boonsak's accurate cross-court smashes and ended up over-hitting his shots or playing them into the net.
The crowd favourite's frustration was compounded by a problem with his racket strings, which broke four times.
But the 28-year-old refused to use that as an excuse for his first-round exit - the first time he has bowed out so early at the Singapore Open.
'I made too many mistakes and I was too eager to win,' he said. 'Boonsak played very well and he was definitely more ready after the interval.'
Singapore's women shuttlers had better luck on the opening day of the US$200,000 (S$274,000) Super Series event.
Xing Aiying beat veteran Dutchwoman Judith Meulendijks 21-15, 23-21.
Her compatriot Gu Juan, ranked 147th in the world, caused arguably the biggest upset of the night, stunning Hong Kong's world No12 Yip Pui Yin 21-11, 21-12.
Top-seeded Pi Hongyan of France eased into the next round with a 21-9, 21-16 win over Slovenia's Maja Tvrdy.
The top seeds in the men's singles also progressed. Malaysia's world No 2 Lee Chong Wei was given a scare by Japan's Sho Sasaki before winning 21-11, 20-22, 21-8.
Denmark's Peter Gade, the 2006 champion, also needed three games to oust Malaysia's Tan Chun Seang 21-10, 17-21, 21-19.
In the women's doubles, Singapore pair Jiang Yanmei and Li Yujia fell to Denmark's Helle Nielsen and Marie Roepke 12-21, 18-21.
tvoon@sph.com.sg
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