South Korean An makes winning start at China Open
FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Badminton - Women's Singles Gold Medal Match - Porte de La Chapelle Arena, Paris, France - August 05, 2024. Se Young An of South Korea in action during the match against Bing Jiao He of China. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
CHANGZHOU, China - South Korean women's top seed An Se-young got her China Open campaign off to a winning start after recovering from a first-game wobble to beat Canadian Michelle Li 13-21 21-3 21-10 in the Chinese city of Changzhou on Wednesday.
Paris Olympic singles gold medallist An, 23, will next face countrywoman Sim Yu-jin in the next round.
Women's defending champion and Chinese second seed Wang Zhiyi beat Taiwan's Hsu Wen-chi 21-16 21-9, setting up a second-round clash with Japan's Riko Gunji, who overcame American Beiwen Zhang 19-21 21-10 21-13.
Japanese women's third seed Akane Yamaguchi also progressed after carving out a comfortable 21-12 21-9 victory against Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt.
Sixth seed Tomoka Miyazaki was the biggest upset of the day in the women's draw as the 18-year-old Japanese went down fighting against India's PV Sindhu, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro singles silver medallist, 21-15 8-21 21-17.
"She's doing well and she's been doing well for quite some time now. It was important for me to win these matches so that it will also give me a morale boost and also that confidence," Sindhu said.
"Sometimes I've been going three games, I've been coming close, yet I've been losing. So, I think it was a good win for me and I need to continue this tempo and keep going ... Even though she's young, she's doing well and she's at the top at the moment."
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Sindhu will face 17-year-old compatriot Unnati Hooda in the next round.
Thai women's seventh seed Pornpawee Chochuwong progressed to the second round as Taiwan's Chiu Pin-Chian retired while the former was leading the contest 20-22 21-19 11-5. Chochuwong faces Sung Shuo-yun next, who is also from Taiwan.
In the men's draw, Danish second seed Anders Antonsen made light work of Japan's Yushi Tanaka 21-19 21-15.
Chinese men's third seed Shi Yuqi secured a comfortable 21-16 21-11 over compatriot Weng Hongyang.
Indonesian men's fourth seed Jonatan Christie also stormed into the next round, while eighth seed Alex Lanier was bundled out by fellow Frenchman Toma Junior Popov 22-20 13-21 21-17. REUTERS
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