[Saba Sports News] In the opening round of the China Open, men’s singles seventh seed Li Shifeng took on Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen and once again showed inconsistency in his performance, eventually losing 1-2. World No.7 Li Shifeng fought a gruelling 76-minute contest against world No.24 Nhat Nguyen. Li was hampered by his recurring slow start and dropped the opening game 12-21. He made adjustments in the second game to level the tie at 21-14. The Chinese shuttler held an early advantage in the decider and looked set to close out the match, yet he succumbed to a string of unforced errors and out-of-bounds shots, falling 18-21 to exit in the first round with a 1-2 defeat. This marks Li Shifeng’s second successive first-round elimination, following his early exit at the Japan Open. Since claiming the Malaysia Masters title in mid-May, Li has failed to reach the quarter-finals at any subsequent top-tier tournament. Immediately after his triumph, he lost to compatriot Weng Hongyang in the first round of the Singapore Open. At the Indonesia Open, he was beaten by Thailand’s Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul — the same opponent he overcame in the Malaysia Masters final — and bowed out in round two. Last week at the Japan Open, he suffered another first-round loss to Yushi Tanaka.
Looking at his recent opponents, Li Shifeng has not come up against any elite rivals. All his defeats have come against players who lag well behind him in world rankings and past results. With the BWF World Championships in August and the Asian Games in September on the horizon, Li Shifeng will drift further away from the ranks of elite men’s singles shuttlers if he cannot rediscover his best form.