Defending champion and world No. 1 Ding Ning of China continued the quest to defend her world championship title in Paris as she cruised into the third round on Wednesday after brushing aside Thailand’s Nanthana Komwong.
Top seed Ding swept aside 102nd-ranked Komwong 11-3, 11-6, 11-3, 11-4 to set up a last-32 showdown with another Chinese Hu Limei.
Petra Lovas of Hungary provided minimal resistance faced with her daunting second-round opponent Liu Shiwen as the two-time World Cup winner powered to a commanding 11-3, 11-2, 11-2, 11-6 win.
Photo: AFP
Olympic title-holder Li Xiaoxia proved far too strong for another Hungarian Krisztina Toth as the 25-year-old steamrolled her way to an 11-7, 11-2, 11-2, 11-4 whitewash, while there were also convincing victories for the other members of the Chinese squad Zhu Yuling, Wu Yang, Chen Meng and Hu Limei.
Feng Tianwei of Singapore, the highest non-Chinese entrant in the women’s draw as the fourth seed, outlasted Misaki Morizono of Japan 11-8, 4-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8.
Earlier, men’s title-holder Zhang Jike of China began the defense of his crown with a routine victory over Sweden’s Fabian Akerstrom.
Seeded fourth in the French capital Zhang, who triumphed over compatriot Wang Hao to claim the Olympic title in London and complete a career Grand Slam, experienced little trouble in his encounter against world No. 321 Akerstrom, prevailing 11-5, 11-1, 12-10, 11-7.
Top seed Xu Xin also eased through to the second round after brushing aside Germany’s Steffen Mengel 11-5, 11-8, 11-2, 11-8.
Wang Hao, the 2009 champion, recovered from losing the opening game to Mexican Marcos Madrid before advancing 9-11, 11-7, 11-1, 11-9, 11-9 while last year’s World Cup winner Ma Long saw off Soumyajit Ghosh of India 11-8, 11-4, 11-3, 11-9.
Men’s singles results (selected)
Andrej Gacina (Croatia) beat Lee Chia-Sheng (Taiwan) 9-11, 11-9, 6-11, 2-11, 11-13.
Chiang Hung-chieh (Taiwan) beat Kim Hyok-bong (North Korea) 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5.
Chen Chien-an (Taiwan) beat Lubomir Pistej (Slovakia) 11-7, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7.
Adam Pattanyus (Hungary) beat Huang Sheng-sheng (Taiwan) 7-11, 11-4, 12-14, 11-6, 11-9, 11-9.
Chuang Chih-yuan (Taiwan) beat Andy Pereira (Cuba) 11-5, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6.
Bastian Steger (Germany) beat Wu Chih-chi (Taiwan) 10-12, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4.
Women’s singles (selected)
Cheng I-ching (Taiwan) beat Barbora Balazova (Slovakia) 11-4, 11-7, 2-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-9.
Chen Szu-yu (Taiwan) beat Alex Galic (Scotland) 11-5, 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, 11-2.
Huang Yi-hua (Taiwan) beat Monika Molnar (Serbia) 11-7, 12-14, 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9.
Kim Jong (North Korea) beat Liu Hsing-yin (Taiwan) 7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8.
Lin Chia-hui (Taiwan) beat Ariel Hsing (US) 9-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-6, 3-11, 12-10, 11-4.
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