It was a day of walkovers and upsets at the Japan Open badminton championships in Tokyo. Korean superstar An Se-young and top ranked women’s doubles Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning were those who withdrew injured in the second.
Also conceding a walkover was eight seeded Pornpawee Chochuwong, who did not take court in her women’s singles match against Korean Kim Ga-eun.
Se-young, the biggest drawcard in the competition, injured her left ankle in her opening round 21-6, 21-9 demolition of world number 21 Hina Akechi of Japan.
Se-young withdrew to seek further treatment back in Korea, instead of aggravating the injury.
The 24-year-old ace was aiming for her fourth consecutive title after her successes at the Asian Individual Championships (April), Singapore Open (May), and Indonesia Open (June).
Shengshu-Tan Ning conceded a walkover to Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Meilysa Trias Puspitasari.
Eight seeded Pornpawee Chochuwong also conceded injured in her singles match to Korean Kim Ga-eun, who gets a free ride into the quarter-finals.
There were also plenty of upset wins by unseeded players in all categories.
American’s Lauren Lam-Allisson Quynh Lee packed off third seeded Korean’s Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee 9-21, 21-18, 21-12 to book their place in the quarter-finals.
In an all-Japanese encounter unseeded Hinata Suzuki-Nao Yamakita edged out seventh seeded Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi 21-15, 18-21, 21-11 to progress to the last eight.
In the women’s singles, Indian veteran P.V. Sindhu continued her mastery over fifth seeded Han Yue. She defeated the Chinese player for the eighth time in nine meetings courtesy of a 21-16, 21-14 victory and qualify for the quarter-finals.
Frenchman Alex Lanier, the men’s singles seventh seed, was beaten for the first time in four meetings this season by Indonesian Alwi Farhan. Alwi battled for 65-minutes before overcoming Lanier 9-21, 21-14, 21-16.
Malaysia’s Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai sprang the biggest upset in the mixed doubles when they gunned down second seeds Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin 21-14, 21-7 in just 29-minutes. It was only their first win over their rivals in 12 meetings.
Another Malaysian pair – Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Yin – scalped yet another top ten ranked pair. They defeated sixth seeds Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue of France in a tight encounter, winning 23-21, 24-22.
Fourth seeded mixed double pairing of Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand were also second round losers. Taiwan’s Yang Po-Hsuan-Hu Ling Fang carved out an impressive 21-16, 21-16 win over the Thai duo.
Also out are fifth seeds Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui of China, who crashed out 21-11, 18-21, 19-21 a t the hands of Taiwanese Ye Hong Wei-Nicole Gonzales Chan.
In the men’s doubles competition, sixth seeds Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani of Indonesia succumbed to a 17-21, 17-21 defeat to the English duo of Ben Lane-Sean Vendy. Despite being ranked higher, the Indonesian pair have now lost all their four meetings with Lane-Vendy.
SECOND ROUND RESULTS
Men’s singles: Yushi Tanaka (Jpn) bt Lee Cheuk Yiu (Hkg) 14-21, 21-10, 21-11; Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Jason Teh Jia Heng (Sgp) 21-11, 21-16; Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) bt Panitchaphon Teeraratsakukul (Tha) 10-21, 21-16, 21-16; Christo Popov (Fra) bt Leong Jun Hao (Mas) 21-16, 21-11, 21-17; Koki Watanabe (Jpn) bt Nguyen Nhat (Ire) 21-15, 21-19; Alwi Farhan (Ina) bt Alex Lanier (Fra) 9-21, 21-14, 21-16; Anders Antonssen (Den) bt Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah (Ina) 21-12, 21-19; Shi Yuqi (Chn) bt Brian Yang (Can) 16-21, 21-19, 21-18
Men’s doubles: Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) bt Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani (Ina) 21-11, 21-17; Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin (Mas) bt Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Den) 21-18, 21-19; Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith (USA) bt Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard (Den) 21-15, 21-12; Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai (Mas) bt Lee Jhe Huei-Yang Po-Hsuan (Tpe) 21-10, 21-15; Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi (Jpn) 21-14, 21-16; Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (Ina) bt Lee Fang-Chih-Lee Fang-Jen (Tpe) 21-14, 21-14; Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Haruki Kawabe-Kenta Matsukawa (Jpn) 21=19, 19-21, 21-19; Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Huang Di-Liu Yang (Chn) 21-17, 21-15
Women’s singles: Sim Yu Jin (Kor) bt Michelle Li (Can) 18-21, 21-19, 21-16; P.V. Sindhu (Ind) bt Han Yue (Chn) 21-16, 21-14; Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) bt An Se-young (Kor) walkover; Chen Yufei (Chn) bt Polina Buhrova (Bul) 21-14, 21-11; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Pitchamon Opatniputh (Tha) 17-21, 21-15, 21-11; Kim Ga-eun (Kor) bt Pornpawee Chochuwong (Tha) walkover; Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Lin Hsiang Ti (Tpe) 21-15, 21-11; Putri Kusuma Wardani (Ina) bt Huang Yu-Hsun (Tpe) 21-19, 21-9
Women’s doubles: Kim Hye-jeong-Kong Hee-yong (Kor) bt Sayaka Hirota-Ayako Sakuramoto (Jpn) 21-11, 22-20; Lauran Lam-Allisson Quynh Lee (USA) bt Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) 9-21, 21-18, 21-12; Ye Hong Wei-Nicole Gonzales Chan (Tpe) bt Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui (Chn) 11-21, 21-18, 21-19; Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Meilysa Trias Puspitasari (Ina) bt Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) walkover; Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) bt Yeung Nga Ting-Yeung Pui Lam (Hkg) 19-21, 21-14, 21-19; Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva (Bul) bt Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) 21-18, 21-15; Hsu Yin-Hui-Lin Jhih Yun (Tpe) bt Lui Lok Lok-Tsang Hiu Yan (Hkg) 21-7, 21-10; Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian (Chn) bt Hsu Ya Ching-Sung Yu-Hsuan (Tpe) 21-16, 18-21, 21-10; Hinata Suzuki-Nao Yamakita (Jpn) bt Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) 21-15, 18-21, 21-11
Mixed doubles: Yang Po-Hsuan-Hu Ling Fang (Tpe) bt Dechapol Puvaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) 21-16, 21-16; Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto (Ind) 22-20, 21-17; Ye Hong Wei-Nicole Gonzales Chan (Tpe) bt Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui (Chn) 11-21, 21-18, 21-19; Akira Koga-Natsu Saito (Jpn) bt Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi (Jpn) 21-10, 17-21, 21-8; Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) bt Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai (Mas) 21-14, 21-7; Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Yin (Mas) bt Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) 23-21, 24-22; Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet (Hkg) bt Chan Yin Chak-Ng Tsz Yau (Hkg) 21-15, 21-10; Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje (Den) bt Kim Jae-hyeon-Jang Ha-jeong (Kor) 21-12, 22-20
