Chen out, women's top seeds through at BWF French Open

PARIS - Men's singles Olympic champion Chen Long became the latest top seeds that bid farewell to BWF World Superseries French Open as he was shocked by Denmark's Anders Antonsen in the second round, while women's singles counterparts met no surprise with four of top five seeds into last eight.

Chen got the upper hand in the opening game and won 21-15. Antonsen led 5-0 early in the second, before finishing the game at 21-16.

Chen built a 6-3 lead in the decider, only to concede three points in a row for 6-all. He saved three match points, but Antonsen secured his place in last eight at 21-16.

"I played aggressively and patiently in the first game. He played quite well at the start of the second game, and when I got back the game at 14-12, I didn't take that chance, which was a turning point of the match.

Before Chen's departure, Son Wan Ho, Lee Chong Wei and Chou Tien Chen all suffered early exits at the tournament.

Qiao Bin was also involved in a three-game battle before losing to South Korea's Jeon Hyeok Jin 21-16, 13-21, 21-12.

Fourth-seeded Shi Yuqi eliminated home favorite Brice Leverdez 21-15, 21-10, setting up a clash with No. 8 seed Srikanth Kidambi of India.

Women's singles defending champion He Bingjiao of China saw off Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark 21-17, 21-12. Chen Yufei also recorded a comfortable victory of 21-17, 21-9 over Indonesian shuttler Hanna Ramadini.

Title favorites Tai Tzu Ying, Sindhu Pusarla, Sung Ji Hyun and Yamaguchi Akane booked their places in last eight, while fourth-seeded Carolina Marin missed out the chance.

Men's doubles No. 5 seeds Liu Cheng and Zhang Nan eased past Goh V Shem and Teo Ee Yi 21-9 in both games, followed by their teammates He Jiting and Tan Qiang, who shocked World Championships runners-up Mohammad Ahsan and Rian Agung Saputro 21-13, 21-16.

In an all-China women's doubles match, Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan moved one step closer to defending the title as they got past Du Yue and Xu Ya 19-21, 21-18, 21-19 in more than one hour.

"We didn't give up until the final point," said Jia.

However, Huang Dong Ping and Li Yinhui crashed out from the contest against a Japanese pair. Huang Yaqiong and Yu Xiaohan also fell short against Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan of South Korea.

Four Chinese pairs made into last 16 in mixed doubles. Top seeds Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen withstood challenges to overshadow teammates He Jiting and Du Yue 21-17, 21-13. Second-seeded Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong also won in straight games, along with Zhang Nan and Li Yinhui in the quarter-finals.

The French Open, the 10th leg of 12 BWF World Superseries of the season, is underway until Sunday, with a total prize money of 325,000 U.S. dollars up for grabs.