T

he world number-six shuttler, Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, was forced to pack his bags early after a defeat to Malaysia'€™s Zulfadli Zulkiffli on the opening day of the 2015 Total BWF World Championships at the Istora Senayan Indoor Stadium in Jakarta on Monday.

Tien Chen unexpectedly succumbed 21-5, 22-20 to Zulkiffli, ranked 38th in the world, in the pair'€™s first encounter.

'€œI lost my focus from the moment I entered the court. I kept thinking of the typhoon that hit my country a few days ago,'€ Tien Chen said after the match.

Typhoon Soudelor hit China'€™s east coast on Sunday, killing 14 and forcing thousands more to evacuate. More than 530 flights were cancelled and 191 high-speed trains were suspended.

'€œI tried to catch up in the second game, but it seemed the first game win had boosted his confidence. He forced me to play in the forecourt,'€ said the runner-up at the 2015 China Taipei Grand Prix Gold.

'€œThe second game was very tough. He'€™s the better player. He'€™s the world'€™s number-six player. I'€™m delighted to have beaten Chou Tien Chen. The pressure was all on him. As the underdog, I just enjoyed my game,'€ Zulkiffli said.

Indonesia'€™s favorite Tommy Sugiarto got off to a winning start by defeating Spain'€™s Pablo Abian 21-16, 21-13.

'€œI'€™m still adapting in the first round. He took an early lead 11-7 in the first game, but I tried to turn the tables against him. In the second game I got the more favorable side of the court,'€ Tommy said.

Asked about his target for the tournament, Tommy said that he would take it one step at a time. '€œI need to work out my strategy for my next opponents,'€ he said.

Pablo, who defeated Tommy at the 2011 Spanish Open, described the game as '€œvery tough'€.

'€œHe started to play faster and he didn'€™t make easy mistakes. His wind control is better than me. That'€™s why he won,'€ said the 30-year-old.

'€œI started playing comfortably, but he took many points in a row and won the first game. In the second game I made many unforced errors,'€ he went on.

In the men'€™s doubles event, Andrei Adistia and Hendra Aprida Gunawan won 21-18, 21-8 over Mathew Fogarty and Bjorn Seguin of the United States.

Indonesia'€™s women'€™s singles favorite Linda Weni Fanetri chalked up a 21-13, 21-15 win over Soraya de Visch Eijbergen of the Netherlands.

Andrei and Hendra relished a possible matchup against Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan, the fifth seeds from China, in the third round.

The Indonesian pair will first, though, have to overcome Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark in the second round.

'€œOur target? We want to meet Fu/Zhang. It would be a great challenge to meet them in this tournament. By then, we will have faced the Danes. We have never met them before, but I think we have prepared well for the game. Tomorrow, we will try to attack them first,'€ Andrei said in a release from the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI).

Several top Indonesian players had byes on Monday and will play their first games on Tuesday. Tontowi Ahmad and Lilyana Natsir, who are seeded third in the mixed doubles event, will take on Rodion Kargaev and Ekaterina Bolotova of Russia.

Meanwhile, Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan, also third seeds in the men'€™s doubles, will be challenged by Baptiste Careme and Ronan Labar of France.