Badminton: Chinese Shuttlers Sail Into Second Round At Japan Open

Badminton: Chinese shuttlers sail into second round at Japan Open (Image Source: IANS)

Japan Open: China's badminton players on Wednesday scored victories to make the second round in several categories here at the Japan Open badminton tournament.

In the men's singles round of 32, China's Weng Hongyang came from behind to beat India's Mithun Manjunath 13-21, 24-22, 21-18, but his teammate Lu Guangzu lost 21-12, 21-14 to Anders Antonsen of Denmark.

The women's singles witnessed a 21-12, 21-13 victory for Zhang Yiman over India's Pusarla Sindhu, and in a quick 24-minute match, eighth seed Han Yue swept Clara Azurmendi of Spain 21-8, 21-8, reports Xinhua.

In the men's doubles, China's Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang overcame Indonesia's Pramudya Kusumawardana/Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan 16-21, 21-7, 21-16, while Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi defeated Japanese duo Keiichiro Matsui/Yoshinori Takeuchi 21-18, 25-23.

Despite great efforts, the Chinese men's duo He Jiting/Zhou Haodong was defeated 20-22, 21-17, 21-10 by Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia.

Chinese women's doubles team Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan outpaced Catherine Choi/Josephine Wu of Canada 21-14, 21-17.

In the mixed doubles, Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping defeated Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing of Malaysia 14-21, 21-15, 21-10, while Jiang Zhenbang/Wei Yaxin sailed past Hee Yong Kai Terry/Tan Wei Han of Singapore 21-12, 21-14.

Meanwhile, world No.2 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, who was in the final of three of his last four events, crashed out in his opening test at the Japan Open 2023.His vanquisher was defending champion Kanta Tsuneyama, who had a 3-3 career record against the Indonesian going into the match. Tsuneyama shut Ginting out in 44 minutes, 21-13 21-18.

Tsuneyama’s compatriot Kenta Nishimoto, the defending champion, enjoyed a morale-boosting opening win, as he held off Lee Zii Jia in a thriller, 20-22 21-17 21-19. Nishimoto faces third seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn next, while Tsuneyema is up against Lakshya Sen, who survived a close battle against compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat, 21-15 12-21 24-22.

The Japan Open 2023 will run until Sunday at Tokyo's Yoyogi National Stadium.