Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen yesterday edged compatriot Wang Tzu-wei 21-18, 21-16 in a tight match to launch his China Open campaign in Changzhou.
The world No. 6 Chou, who is also seeded sixth in the tournament, defeated World No. 24 Wang for the 13th consecutive time, setting up a round-of-16 match against India’s H.S. Prannoy, who overcame Japan’s Koki Watanabe 8-21, 21-16, 23-21.
Watanabe last week knocked Chou out of the second round of the Japan Open in Tokyo.
Photo: AFP
World No. 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand defeated Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan 10-21, 21-15, 21-18.
The 24-year-old recovered from a first-set loss to secure a place in the next round, where he would face Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao who beat Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in straight sets.
Prannoy, who is just two years younger than 35-year-old Chou, said that up-and-comers are posing a challenge for the veterans.
“This point in my career, every win matters. I’m happy to be back on tour. Small breaks happened here and there. The level of playing has gone high, and winning each round is getting tougher day by day,” 33-year-old Prannoy said. “The average age has become 22-23 in men’s singles all of a sudden. There are a lot of fresh faces, and you don’t know their game. So, it’s tough to be a veteran out there.”
In the women’s singles, Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-Ti dominated India’s Anupama Upadhyaya after a tough start, with the world No. 22 taking the match 21-23, 21-11, 21-10.
Lin is next to play Indonesian eighth seed Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, who beat Japanese Kaoru Sugiyama 23-21, 21-9.
Chinese fourth seed Han Yue and fifth seed Chen Yufei advanced comfortably, setting up clashes with compatriots in the next round.
Yue is to face Han Qianxi, while Yufei would meet Gao Fangjie.
In women’s doubles, the Taiwanese world No. 12 duo of Hsieh Pei-shan and Hung Ez-tzu devastated India’s Amrutha Pramuthesh and Sonali Singh 21-12, 21-5 in 20 minutes.
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