The French pair is out.
The Glaz Arena is already warmed up after the public witnessed French first victory of the week with Toma Junior POPOV (France, n°25). It's under the applause and cheers of French fans that Thom and Delphine enter their home tournament.
Start is a bit winded for the French pair but they still manage to be ahead at the break (11/9). The opponents from Hong Kong are ready for a fight and they come back at 17/17 after multiples unforced errors from the French side. Outsiders lead 20/18 and the second set point allow them to take the lead in this first round match (21/19).
You can feel the tension during the break as the whole arena is holding its breath. Thom and Delphine are French number ones all categories combined, and a first-round loss would be complicated to manage after. Fortunately for the public, they are number ones for a reason. Bringing their game to another level, they manage to annihilate LEE and NG to start the second set. Despite of that, they are still making a few errors and the pair from Hong Kong feels that today could be their day. They are not letting Thom and Delphine a comfortable advantage and save 3 set points to come back at 19/20. Shuttle is called out, challenge is requested by LEE and NG, the arena screen crashes down not letting the crowd aware of the decision. The Umpire finally calls “out” to relieve the whole arena and let them make some noise.
World n°24 take the edge in the 3rd set and lead 11/4 at the break. Despite their revolt, Thom and Delphine do not play at their usual level from the past few months. They crumble down and lose 9/21, without offering one last battle. Cruel for the fans, wonderful from LEE and NG.
Thom reacts after the loss: “We lacked a bit of everything. It’s frustrating, we weren’t able to control the game”. Delphine had more or less the same analysis: “We were not good for the whole game. At this level we can’t compete with top level pairs.”
Next step for LEE and NG will be against CHEN Tang Jie and MASTOH Ee Wei (Malaysia, n°9).