Fourth seeds Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork suffered a first-round defeat at the Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open today.

The Commonwealth silver and European bronze medallists were edged out 21-19 12-21 21-19 by Korea’s Yoo Yeon Seong and Kim Min Jung despite leading 17-15 in the deciding game. It was the longest mixed contest of the round, lasting 55 minutes.

The defeat ended Robertson and Wallwork’s impressive run of form after reaching the final of the Denmark Open in October and the quarter-final of the French Open early last month.

Robert Blair plays his second Super Series contest in successive weeks when he tackles the men’s doubles with Indonesia's Flandy Limpele.

The pair, who reached the second round at the China event last week in Shanghai before losing to three-times world champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, face Dutch Ruud Bosch and Koen Ridder in tomorrow’s first round.

An opening win willk bring the prospect of meeting 2005 world champions Tony Gunawan and Howard Bach of USA or Taipei seeds Chieh Min Fang and Sheng Mu Lee in the last 16 on Thursday.