Taiwanese world No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying yesterday eased through in her badminton World Championships opener to underline her status as the woman to beat in Nanjing, China.
The top seed was never really in trouble against Wendy Hsuan-yu Chen of Australia, winning 21-10, 21-16 to reach the third round.
Similarly untroubled were former world No. 1 Saina Nehwal of India, the 10th seed, and seventh seed Carolina Marin of Spain.
Photo: AFP
Ratchanok Intanon survived a major scare as the fourth seed battled back from the brink of a shock early exit.
Ratchanok, the 2013 champion and one of the favorites, looked set to go out to the unseeded Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark, before recovering her poise to reach round three.
A lackluster Ratchanok went down 21-16 in the first game and was trailing for much of the second, losing 19-16 at one stage.
The 23-year-old appeared troubled by a right ankle or foot injury and called for her trainer as she stared defeat in the face, but the former world No. 1 stormed back to squeeze through the second game 22-20 and then raced away 21-10 in the decider.
In the men’s singles, Japan’s Kento Momota made a blistering start to his campaign — then brushed off any talk of pressure.
After swatting aside Ukraine’s Artem Pochtarov 21-13, 21-12, Momota said: “I don’t take the attention at home and abroad as pressure, but instead motivation.”
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