Sweden’s Waldner Has a Lot on Ball

Jan-Ove Waldner, the defending champion from Sweden, was virtually assured of advancing after a straight-set victory over South Korea’s Lee Chul-seung.

Waldner defeated Lee, 21-11, 21-19, for his second victory in the four-player group. The top player from each of 16 groups advances and the other players in Waldner’s group have at least one loss apiece.

China’s Kong Linghui, last year’s world champion, defeated Toshio Tasaki of Japan, 21-9, 21-14, to remain undefeated in his group. Wang Tao, third in the world last year, beat Dany Tsiokas of Greece, 21-19, 21-11.