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Zhou Mi ousted from Japan Open Athens Olympic bronze medallist Zhou Mi of China suffered an early exit in the Japan Open badminton tournament as she was defeated by Japanese Kanako Yonekura 11-7, 11-9 on Thursday. Zhou, fifth seed here, could not get into her rhythm against the 1998 Asian Games champion before going down in straight sets in 43 minutes. "It was difficult to get used to the court and lights, and furthermore, my opponent is Yonekura. I was beaten before I could get used to it. It was my worst match," said Zhou. She was the 2002 Asian Games champion and two-time champion here, in 2001 and 2002. Mia Audina Tjiptawan of the Netherlands, the Olympic silver medallist in Athens and the defending champion here, also crashed in the first round, losing 11-9, 7-11, 13-11 to Chinese qualifier Lu Lan. All the top four seeds made through to the second round. China's top seed Zhang Ning overwhelmed unseeded French Tatiana Vattier 11-5, 11-1, and Zhang's second-seeded compatriot Xie Xingfang squeezed through to an 11-3, 6-11, 11-6 win over Cheng Shao-chieh of Chinese Taipei. Third seed Pi Hongyan from France trounced Japan's Kaori Imabeppu 11-4, 11-0,
while fourth seed Wang Chen from Hong Kong, China downed another Japanese, Ai
Goto, 11-8, 9-11, 11-0.
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