Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday sailed through to the women’s singles quarter-finals at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur, while Taiwanese ace Chou Tien-chen advanced in the men’s singles.
In a match that lasted just 42 minutes, Tai crushed Malaysian Goh Jin Wei 16-21, 21-7, 21-9 at the Axiata Arena.
The world No. 2 got off to a rocky start, trailing her opponent 2-8, and failing to catch up before the end of the first game.
Photo: AP
From the start of the second game, Tai was playing more aggressively, taking a quick 14-1 lead. Keeping a fiery pace, she yielded only six more points to Goh before winning the game, which she followed up with another rapid win to seal the 2-1 victory.
It was the second head-to-head encounter between Tai and Goh after the 2018 Malaysia Open quarter-finals, in which the Taiwanese also prevailed.
Tai next plays Pusarla V. Sindhu of India in the quarter-finals. Earlier this month, Tai defeated world No. 7 Sinhu 13-21, 21-15, 21-13 in their quarter-final match at the Malaysian Open.
World No. 4 Chou blasted past Ng Tze Yong to book his quarter-final place, beating the Malaysian 21-18, 21-16 in 51 minutes.
Chou is to play world No. 13 Angus Ng Ka Long today.
Taiwan’s Wang Tzu-wei, who is ranked 16th in the world, lost his men’s singles match to world No. 19 H.S. Prannoy 21-19, 21-16.
In men’s doubles, Taiwan’s Chang Ko-chi and Po Li-wei beat Chang Yee Jun and Roy King Yap of Malaysia 14-21, 21-11, 21-10 in 51 minutes.
The Taiwanese duo next play Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in the quarter-finals.
Taiwan’s Lu Ching-yao and Yang Po-han also advanced to the men’s doubles quarter-finals, defeating Germany’s Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel 20-22, 21-12, 21-13.
The Taiwanese pair are today to play Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawann of Indonesia.
In the mixed doubles, Taiwan’s Yang Po-hsuan and Hu Ling-fang made quick work of Chang Tak Ching and Ng Wing Yung, beating the Hong Kong duo 21-13, 21-10 in just 26 minutes
Yang and Hu are to play China’s Wang Yi Lyu and Huang Dong Ping in the quarter-finals.
The Malaysia Masters, which ends on Sunday, is a BWF Super 500 tournament that carries a total purse of US$360,000.
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