All England Open badminton: Angus Ng retires injured in rematch with Li Shifeng – but has a wedding to prepare for
- Ng faces Li again at All England Open Badminton Championships, but their first-round clash lasts just 26 minutes
- The Hongkonger had beaten Li only three days earlier to win the German Open final
Newly crowned German Open champion Angus Ng Ka-long came straight down to earth as he retired hurt in his opening All England Open Badminton Championships match against the same opponent – but at least he could fly home early before getting married.
Having beaten Li Shifeng of China on Sunday in the German final, Ng had been drawn to face him again just three days later in the All England first round in Birmingham.
But the sequel was over in just 26 minutes, as Ng lost the first set 21-12 and trailed 8-1 in the second before retiring.
He said afterwards that he was carrying an Achilles tendon strain picked up during the marathon German final.
“It did not get serious – it just needs some time to recover, and three days is obviously not enough for me,” Ng said before flying back to Hong Kong to prepare for his wedding next weekend.
The world No 11 made a promising start to this year, finishing third at the Indonesia Masters in January, losing the final at the Thailand Masters in February, and being crowned champion at the German Open to end his three-year title drought.
