Nguyễn Nhật
Vietnamese born Irish number one Nguyễn Nhật scalped world number six Chou Tien Chen for the second time this year at the Japan Open badminton championships.
Nguyễn, who had defeated Tien Chen at the German Open in three games in February, had a much easier time in his 21-19, 21-6 opening round win at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
The 26-year-old Nguyễn will take on Koki Watanabe in the second round after the Japanese shuttler defeated India’s Lakshya Sen 21-16, 21-14 in his first round match.
Another surprise casualty was China’s Li Shifeng, who was beaten 17-21, 21-19, 15-21 after an 80-minute battle against Japan’s Yushi Tanaka.
It was Yushi’s second win over the eighth seeded Chinese Li Shifeng. Yushi will play Taiwanese Lee Cheuk Yiu, who disposed of another Chinese player. Cheuk Yiu won 23-21, 21-10 for his fifth win in seven meetings over Liu Guang Zu.
There were no suprises in the women’s singles with second seed Wang Zhiyi leading the charge, with an easy 21-7, 21-12 win over Taiwanese Sung Shuo Yun.
Also through to the second round was third seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, who cruised to a 21-12, 21-12 win over teammate Natsuk Nidaira.
In the women’s doubles, eighth seeds Hsieh Pei Shan-Hung En-Tzu of Chinese Taipei saw their campaign come to end in the first round. The Taiwanese duo were beaten by Bulgarian siblings Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva 21-16, 21-10.
FIRST ROUND RESULTS
Men’s singles: Jason Teh Jia Heng (Sgp) bt Angus Ng Ka Long (Hkg) 21-19, 21-14; Koki Watanabe (Jpn) bt Lakshya Sen (Ind) 21-16, 21-14; Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Toma Junior Popov (Fra) 21-17, 21-13; Lee Cheuk Yiu (Hkg) bt Lu Guang Zu (Chn) 23-21, 21-10; Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Ayush Shetty (Ind) 21-19, 23-25, 21-15; Nhat Nguyen (Ire) bt Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) 21-19, 21-6; Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah (Ina) bt Rasmus Gemke (Den) 21-14, 16-21, 21-18; Yushi Tanaka (Jpn) bt Li Shifeng (Chn) 21-17, 19-21, 21-15
Men’s doubles: Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani (Ina) bt Chiu Hsiang Chieh-Wang Chi-Lin (Tpe) 21-18, 17-21, 21-16; Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong (Mas) 21-17, 21-14; Haruki Kawabe-Kenta Matsukawa (Jpn) bt Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin (Ina) 21-16, 21-22, 21-10; Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (Ina) bt Christo Popov-Toma Junior Popov (Fra) 21-19, 21-13; Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) bt He Zhi-Wei-Huang Jui-Hsuan (Tpe) 21-16, 22-20; Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Choi Sol-gyu-Goh V Shem (Kor-Mas) 21-11, 21-11; Huang Di-Liu Yang (Chn) bt Kevin Lee-Ty Alexander Lindeman (Can) 21-5, 21-14; Lee Fang-Chih-Lee Fang-Jen (Tpe) bt Man Wei Chong-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) 21-23, 21-17, 21-16
Women’s singles: Kim Ga-eun (Kor) bt Letshanaa Karupathevan (Mas) 21-16, 21-12; Pornpawee Chochuwong (Tha) bt Chiu Pin-chian (Tpe) 21-14, 21-16; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Natsuki Nidaira (Jpn) 21-12, 21-12; Lin Hsiang Ti (Tpe) bt Kirsty Gilmour (Sco) 21-19, 21-19; Pitchamon Opatniputh (Tha) bt Neslihan Arin (Tur) 21-13, 21-13; Huang Yu-Hsun (Tpe) bt Unnati Hooda (Ind) 16-21, 21-16, 21-15; Putri Kusuma Wardani (Ina) bt Zhang Beiwen (USA) 21-6, 21-15; Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Sung Shuo Yun (Tpe) 21-7, 21-12
Women’s doubles: Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) bt Francesca Corbett-Jennie Gai (USA) 21-17, 21-19; Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian (Chn) bt Rachel Allessya Rose-Febi Setianingrum (Ina) 21-11, 19-21, 21-14; Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) bt Bengisu Ercetin-Nazlican Inci (Tur) 21-17, 21-16; Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva (Bul) bt Hsieh Pei Shan-Hung En-Tzu (Tpe) 21-16, 21-10; Hsu Ya Ching-Sung Yu-Hsuan (Tpe) bt Ririna Hiramoto-Kokona Ishikawa (Jpn) 18-21, 21-19, 22-20; Yeung Nga Ting-Yeung Pui Lam (Hkg) bt Kaho Osawa-Mai Tanabe (Jpn) 21-8, 21-18; Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) bt Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi-Siti Fadlia Ramadhanti (Ina) 21-16, 21-16; Hinata Suzuki-Nao Yamakita (Jpn) bt Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard (Tha) 22-20, 15-21, 21-18
Mixed doubles: Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) bt Hiroki Midorikawa-Misaki Matsutomo (Jpn) 21-15, 17-21, 21-12; Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai (Mas) bt Chen Zhi Yi-Francesca Corbett (USA) 21-13, 22-20; Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Yin (Mas) bt Yuichi Shimogami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) 21-19, 11-21, 21-19; Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje (Den) bt Kar Lung Chun-Karen Yun Qiao Feng (Eng) 21-2, 21-6; Chan Yin Chak-Ng Tsz Yau (Chn) bt Presley Smith-Jennie Gai (USA) 18-21, 21-17, 22-20; Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet (Hkg) bt Emre Sonmez-Yaseman Bektas (Tur) 21-13, 21-11; Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) bt Amri Syahnawi-Nita Violina Marwah (Ina) 21-18, 23-21; Kim Jae-hyeon-Jang Ha-jeong (Kor) bt Marvin Seidel-Thuc Phuong Nguyen (Ger) 25-23, 21-17
