World No. 2 Peter Gade failed to enter the men's singles quarterfinals at the China Open badminton in Guangzhou on Thursday, beaten by Chinese 17-year-old Gong Weijie in straight sets 15-8, 15-11.
The European champion started slow and trailed 7-0 at the very beginning. He then managed a couple of points but it was too latefor him to find the pace.
"Gong is amazing and he played very well tonight," Gade said.
"I knew little about him and now I think I will have one more tough opponent in the future competitions," he added.
Gong seldom competed in the senior tournaments and his best record up to now is the runner-up in the 2004 world junior championships.
"I didn't expect to beat Gade. He is a world known veteran anyway," Gong said.
"It's the first time I met him, but I didn't think too much and just concentrated on the competition.
"Of course my coach and I studied his game before the match, but I think the main reason why I could win is that I played slow and he doesn't fit my style. You know, he likes to play fast," Gong said.
A second surprise came from another Chinese teenager Li Yu. The19-year-old downed fourth-seeded Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia 17-15, 15-4.
Eighteen-year-old Chen Jin of China, who ousted his teammate and former world No. 1 Xia Xuanze, advanced further through Agus Hariyanto of Chinese Hong Kong.
China books six quarterfinal berths with its world No. 1 Lin Dan, fifth-seeded Bao Chunlai and sixth-seeded Chen Hong all through with ease.
The other two berths went to Dane Kenneth Jonassen and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, who conquered Chinese Wu Yunyong 15-8, 15-11.
(Xinhua News Agency November 12, 2004)
