Top seeds Vitidsarn, An storm into China Open quarters
FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Badminton - Men's Singles Gold Medal Match - Porte de La Chapelle Arena, Paris, France - August 05, 2024. Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in action during the match against Viktor Axelsen of Denmark. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
CHANGZHOU, China - Thai men's top seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn swept aside Malaysian Leong Jun Hao with a 23-21 21-7 win to march into the quarter-finals of the China Open on Thursday, while women's top seed An Se-young beat Sim Yu-jin 21-13 21-15 in an all-South Korean clash.
Danish men's second seed Anders Antonsen recovered from a set-game blip to progress to the quarters, beating Taiwan's Lin Chun-yi 21-19 20-22 22-20. He will next face Frenchman Toma Junior Popov, who knocked out Canadian Brian Yang 21-17 21-16.
Chinese men's third seed Shi Yuqi beat Irishman Nhat Nguyen 21-15 21-8 to set up a clash with compatriot and fifth seed Li Shifeng, who defeated Hong Kong's Angus Ng Ka Long.
Taiwanese sixth seed Chou Tien-chen also booked his place in the quarters after beating India's HS Prannoy.
However, Indonesian fourth seed Jonatan Christie was stunned by Frenchman Christo Popov 21-12 13-21 21-16.
Women's defending champion and Chinese second seed Wang Zhiyi crushed Japan's Riko Gunji 21-15 21-13. She will next take on Taiwan's Chiu Pin-Chian in the quarters.
Japanese third seed Akane Yamaguchi, Chinese fourth seed Han Yue, Chinese fifth seed Chen Yufei and Indonesian eighth seed Gregoria Mariska Tunjung also made it through to the quarters in the women's draw.
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Yamaguchi next faces 17-year-old Unnati Hooda, who beat two-time Olympic medallist and fellow Indian PV Sindhu 21-16 19-21 21-13.s REUTERS
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