Defending Olympic champion Zhang Ning of China recovered from a shaky start yesterday to defeat Thailand’s Salakjit Ponsana in three sets at the Olympic badminton tournament.
Second-seeded Zhang defeated Ponsana 21-23, 21-17, 21-7 to advance to the third round of the women’s singles tournament being played at Beijing University of Technology.
“I wasn’t too worried after losing the first set,” said Zhang, who had a first-round bye. “I’ve played her before so I knew what to expect.”
Zhang is only seventh in the world rankings and has struggled with injuries this year but was picked over 2007 world champion Zhu Lin, who is third in the world rankings.
The 33-year-old Zhang was rusty in the first set but quickly took control of the match with smashes that were too powerful for her 29th-ranked opponent.
Zhang will next face South Korea’s Jun Jae-youn, a 21-12, 21-14 winner over Chloe Magee of Ireland.
China won three of five gold medals in badminton at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and is expected to dominate on home soil.
Yesterday was the first day China’s players were in action and the capacity crowd was in full voice in support of their players, waving Chinese flags and shouting “Go China!”
Top-seeded Xie Xingfang was to play later yesterday against Cheng Sha-chieh of Taiwan.
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