ZAKRY Latif and Fairuzizuan Tazari boosted their Olympic aspirations when they shocked local favourites and World No 2 Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun in the first round of the China Open in Guangzhou yesterday.

Zakry-Fairuz, who had to earn their tournament berth through trials in Kuala Lumpur, justified their inclusion with an impressive 21-15, 18-21, 21-17 win over Haifeng-Cai Yun in 48 minutes.

Victory was sweet for Zakry-Fairuz, ranked World No 19, as Haifeng-Cai Yun denied them their first international crown by beating the Malaysian No 3 in the Indonesia Open final in May.

Haifeng-Cai Yun, who have won four Super Series titles, were virtually unbeatable at home before this and the win Zakry-Fairuz's achievement even more remarkable.

Fairuz, in a telephone interview from Guangzhou, said the morale boosting win was achieved at a crucial time where they must perform or forget about next year's Beijing Olympics.

"We were too defensive and lost to them in Indonesia but we didn't give Haifeng-Cai Yun the chance to attack this time. It is an important win for us as we have not been playing well for several months," said Fairuz.

"We realised that the only way to beat them was by keeping our shots low and stay focused. They tried to distract us and some of our services were faulted. I managed to stay calm and it helped.

"Now that we have got an opening, we want to go as far as we can as we need to keep improving our world ranking. Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah are too far ahead at the moment and I'm not thinking too much about the Olympics. What is important now is to maintain our consistency."

Zakry-Fairuz are expected to meet China's He Hanbin-Shen Ye in the second round today.

World No 1 Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong also cruised into the second round with a 21-19, 21-12 win over Hong Kong's Albertus Susanto-Johan Hadi Kusuma in 23 minutes to set up a meeting with Taiwan's Tsai Chia Hsin-Hu Chung Hsien today.

Veterans Tan Fook-Wan Wah thrashed Americans Howard Bach-Bob Malaythong, who beat the veterans in the Denmark Open last month, 21-7, 21-10 in just 15 minutes. They will meet China's junior pair Liu Xialong-Li Tian in the second round.

In the men's singles, Lee Chong Wei overcame a shaky start to register a comfortable 21-18, 21-12 win over Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand in 34 minutes. Chong Wei was flirting with danger when he trailed 8-15 in the first game but was in charge after leveling the score at 16-16.

It gets easier for Chong Wei in the second round where he plays England's Andrew Smith, who beat Dicky Palyama of the Netherlands 19-21, 21-12, 21-17, today.

Hafiz Hashim defeated Gong Weijie of China and will fancy his chances of a last eight berth when he faces Park Sung Hwan of South Korea today. Sung Hwan created the biggest upset of the day when he toppled World No 1 Lin Dan of China 19-21, 22-20, 21-17 in the first round.

Lin Dan is the second big name to depart from the men's singles after Indonesia's Athens Olympics champion Taufik Hidayat withdrew at the eleventh hour citing fatigue.

Yeoh Kay Bin was through after beating Poland's Przemyslaw Wacha 9-21, 21-19, 21-13 and plays Chen Hong of China next.

However, Wong Choong Hann was beaten 21-11, 12-21, 21-12 to Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia while Roslin Hashim lost 21-18, 21-18 by Korean Lee Hyun Il.

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