Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, the world No. 2, was yesterday forced into a three-set decider by Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk at the Yonex Thailand Open.
The local, who ranks 39th worldwide, came out firing in the first game 16-21, but quickly lost momentum going down 21-10, 21-14.
Wang Tzu-wei, the world No. 12 from Taiwan, took three sets to beat France’s 37th-ranked Brice Leverdez 21-12, 14-21, 21-16.
Photo: Reuters
In the doubles, Taiwan’s Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin easily beat Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 21-13 in the first set, before clinching the match 21-18 in the second set.
Spain’s Carolina Marin sailed through the first round as she made a fast start to her season, six months before her Olympic title defense.
The former world No. 1 made short work of France’s 37th-ranked Qi Xuefei, winning the first game in just 15 minutes before sealing it 21-10, 21-12.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
“I feel really happy to be back on court after some months without tournaments. I have really missed it a lot,” Marin said. “I wanted to get back this competition feeling, that adrenaline. I came with determination to win, but also to keep my focus on my game plan.”
“Winning here is what I want. I would like to win a title here,” she said.
Thailand’s best hope, former world No. 1 Ratchanok Intanon, is through to round two after polishing off Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min in straight sets 21-15, 21-15.
Photo: EPA-EFE
In the men’s singles, third seed Anders Antonsen made a surprise early exit in the first round going down 12-21, 18-21 to Malaysia’s Liew Daren, who is ranked 41st.
“Before this tournament I didn’t know I would even play because I was on the reserves list, so to make it at the last minute and also win my first round against the third seed, it has really surprised me,” Liew said.
Meanwhile, the BWF said that it is working with Thai health authorities to ensure COVID-19 tests are comfortable after Indian player Kidambi Srikanth developed a nose bleed during a swab collection.
The world No. 14 had described tests conducted at the event as “unacceptable” in a Twitter post that was accompanied by an image of blood dripping down his face following a fourth mandatory test on Tuesday.
On Monday, Egyptian mixed doubles player Adham Hatem Elgamal tested positive for COVID-19 and withdrew from the tournament.
Indian star Saina Nehwal was among three other players who tested positive, but were allowed to play because their infections were historic, the BWF said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
SWEEP THE LEG: Poirier, determined to best McGregor, after losing to him in 2014, used low calf kicks to throw ‘Notorious’ off his stand-up game, before dropping him American underdog Dustin Poirier yesterday shook up the world of mixed martial arts, beating up the legs of Irish superstar Conor McGregor before knocking him out at UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi. “I’m happy, but I’m not surprised. I put in the work,” Poirier said, after the referee stepped in after 2 minutes, 32 seconds of the second round to save McGregor from further damage, after he was dropped by a fierce combination of punches. The 32-year-old Poirier was ranked second in the flyweight division going into the fight, but still rated a heavy underdog by bookmakers to beat his fourth-ranked opponent,
LOOKING TO REPEAT: World No. 7 Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin advanced to the round-of-16 at the Toyota Thailand Open, after winning the Yonex Thailand Open on Sunday Taiwan’s world No. 7 duo yesterday eased past the US’ world No. 37 pairing at the Toyota Thailand Open to reach the round-of-16 in Bangkok. Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin beat Phillip Chew and Ryan Chew 21-14, 21-11 in just 24 minutes. Lee and Wang, who won the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Thailand Open on Sunday, next face the world No. 34 pairing, Canada’s Jason Anthony Ho-Shue and Nyl Yakura. In men’s singles, Taiwan’s world No. 2 Chou Tien-chen again beat Thailand’s world No. 45 Suppanyu Avihingsanon, after edging past the Thai player in the opening round of the Yonex
HOLDING STEADY: Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying pushed past Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung to advance to a quarter-finals match against world No. 10 Michelle Li Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen and Wang Tzu-wei yesterday defeated their respective opponents in the second round of the Toyota Thailand Open, setting them up to face each other today in the quarter-finals. In an early match, world No. 12 Wang took 45 minutes to defeat Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka-long 21-13, 21-11. Last week, the world No. 8 ousted Wang from the Yonex tournament before defeating Chou in the semi-finals. Chou, world No. 2, defeated France’s Brice Leverdez in 48 minutes 21-19, 21-16. In other men’s singles matches, Indonesia’s fifth seed Anthony Ginting suffered an unexpected defeat to Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk-yiu, who moved into
MARIN REMATCH: Tai Tzu-ying saved six game points in her semi-final against Ratchanok Intanon, who went into the match with a superior head-to-head record Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying reached the final of badminton’s Thailand Open yesterday with a three-set win over Ratchanok Intanon, setting up a rematch against Carolina Marin. Tai won 12-21, 21-12, 23-21 in 59 minutes to set up her second final against Marin in two weeks, while Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin advanced to the final in the men’s doubles. However, Chou Tien-chen was eliminated in the semi-finals of the men’s singles. Tai saved six game points in the win against her Thai opponent Intanon, who went into the match with a superior head-to-head record against the Taiwanese world No. 1. Tai’s best streak was a
RSS