Akane Yamaguchi
The pretenders for the women’s singles crown held by Korean ace An Se-young began their quest for the title at the Kumamoto Masters badminton championships.
With the newly crowned Korean Open champion giving the tournament a miss, the chasing pack including Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, Wang Zhiyi of China opened account with victories over their rivals in the first round at the Kumamoto Prefacture Stadium.
Yamaguchi, who was beaten by Se-young in the Korean Open final, defeated Japan’s Hina Akechi 22-20, 21-10. Se-young, who collected a record equaling 11th international title last week, had beaten Yamaguchi in a sixth final between the duo this year alone.
The top seeded Japanese shuttler’s last win over Se-young had come at the Korean Open last year. She will play Thailand’s Supanida Katethong in the second round.
Second seeded Zhiyi overcame a late fightback from Canadian Rachel Chan before winning 21-13, 22-20.
Zhiyi is the only top ranked player to have beaten Se-young at the All-England final. However, the Chinese player failed to get past the Korean at the finals of the World Championships, Asian Championships, Indian Open as well as the Malaysian Open this season.
Also through to the second round are the third and fourth seeded Che Yufei of China and Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand.
The only seed failing to make the second round was seventh seeded Putri Kusuma Wardani, who was beaten 13-20, 20-22 by Japan’s Riko Gunji.
There were no major surprises in the men’s singles with all the top four seeds – Frenchman Christo Popov, Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn, Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei and Canadian Victor Lai all moving into the second round.
FIRST ROUND RESULTS
Men’s singles: Christo Popov (Fra) bt Minoru Koga (Jpn) 21-14, 21-14; Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah (Ina) bt Brian Yang (Can) 22-24, 28-26, 21-19; Alwi Farhan (Ina) bt Lin Chun-Yi (Tpe) 21-18, 21-12; Kenta Nishimoto (Jpn) bt Nhat Nguyen (Ire) 15-21, 21-7, 21-18; Victor Lai (Can) bt Yudai Okimoto (Jpn) 21-19, 21-12; Yushi Tanaka (Jpn) bt Zhu Xuanchen (Chn) 21-14, 21-17; Lakshya Sen (Ind) bt Chi Yu Jen (Tpe) 21-19, 21-18; Dong Tianyao (Chn) bt Lee Chia Hao (Tpe) 21-15, 19-21, 21-10; Kidambi Srikanth (Ind) bt Rasmus Gemke (Den) 18-21, 21-16, 24-22; Koki Watanabe (Jpn) bt Jeon Hyeok-jin (Kor) 21-10, 21-18; Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) bt Hu Zhean (Chn) 21-17, 21-18; Wang Po-Wei (Tpe) bt Wang Tzu Wei (Tpe) 21-11, 21-12; Toma Junior Popov (Fra) bt Su Liyang (Tpe) 21-15, 21-11; Yoo Tae-bin (Kor) bt Riki Takei (Jpn) 21-13, 16-21, 21-18; Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Magnus Johannesen (Den) 21-18, 21-19; Panitchapon Teeraratsakul (Tha) vs Kodai Naraoka (Jpn)
Men’s doubles: Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Christo Popov-Toma Junior Popov (Fra) 21-11, 21-17; He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu (Chn) bt Chia Weiji-Teo Ee Yi (Mas) 19-21, 21-14, 21-10; Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Huang Kuei Chun-Liu Chun Wai (Hkg) 21-13, 21-17; Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith (USA) bt Haruki Kawabe-Kenta Matsukawa (Jpn) 22-20, 21-19; Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (Mas) bt Peeratchai Sukhpun-Pakkapon Teeraratsakul (Tha) 21-18, 21-23, 21-13
Women’s singles: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Hina Akechi (Jpn) 22-20, 21-10; Supanida Katethong (Tha) bt Huang Yu-Hsuan (Tpe) 21-19, 21-7; Riko Gunji (Jpn) bt Putri Kusuma Wardani (Ina) 21-13, 21-17; Tung Ciou-Tong (Tpe) bt Han Qianxi (Chn) 19-21, 21-10, 21-11; Chen Yufei (Chn) bt Kaoru Sugiyama (Jpn) 22-20, 21-17; Kaloyana Nalbantova (Bul) bt Michelle Li (Can) 22-20, 21-16; Pornpawee Chochuwong (Tha) bt Wong Ling Ching (Mas) 17-21, 21-4, 21-13; Natsuki Nidaira (Jpn) bt Letshanaa Karupathevan (Mas) 21-18, 18-21, 21-12;Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Nodoka Sunakawa (Jpn) 21-13, 13-21, 21-11; Sung Shuo Yun (Tpe) bt Amelie Schulz (Den) 21-19, 21-17; Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) bt Polina Buhrova (Ukr) 21-15, 21-16; Mia Blichfeldt (Den) bt Xu Wenjing (Chn) 21-14, 13-21, 21-13; Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Rachel Chan (Can) 21-13, 21-11; Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) bt Manami Suizu (Jpn) 21-18, 21-11; Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt (Den) bt Yevheniia Kantemyr (Ukr) 21-16, 21-18; Lin Hsiang Ti (Tpe) vs Chiu Pin-Chian (Tpe)
Women’s doubles: Kim Yu-jung-Lee Yu-lim (Kor) bt Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva (Bul) 17-21, 21-13, 21-5; Mio Konegawa-An Uesugi (Jpn) bt Yeung Nga Ting-Yeung Pio Lam (Hkg) 18-21, 21-15, 21-10; Sumire Nakade-Miyu Takahashi (Jpn) bt Chen Fan Shutian-Luo Xumin (Chn) 21-15, 19-21, 21-18; Miki Kanehiro-Yuna Kato (Jpn) bt Kokona Ishikawa-Haruna Konishi (Jpn) 21-17, 21-12; Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti (Ina) bt Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) 21-14, 21-13; Lauren Lam-Allison Quynh Lee (USA) bt Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn-Sabrina Sophita Wedler (Tha) 23-21, 21-13
Mixed doubles: Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) bt Hariharan Amsakarunan-Tanisha Crasto (Ind) 21-7, 21-9; Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing (Mas) bt Jonathan Bing Tsan Lai-Crystal Lai (Can) 21-14, 21-14; Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi (Chn) bt Chen Yi Zhi-Francesca Corbett (USA) 22-20, 21-13; Kim Jae-hyeon-Jang Ha-jeong (Kor) bt Presley Smith-Jennie Gai (USA) 21-17, 25-23; Ye Hong Wei-Nicole Gonzales Chan (Tpe) bt Dhruv Rawat-Maneesha K (Ind) 16-21, 21-14, 21-14; Liu Kuang Heng-Hsu Yin-Hui (Tpe) bt Pakkapon Teeraratsakul-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) 23-21, 21-16; Amri Syahnawi-Nita Violina Marwah (Ina) bt Ruben Garcia-Lucia Rodriguez (Esp) 21-14, 21-5; Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi (Jpn) bt Marwan Faza-Aisyah Salsabila Putri Pranata (Ina) 21-16, 21-10; Yuichi Shimogami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) bt Chen Tang Jie-Chan Wen Tse (Mas) 21-15, 21-10; Zhu Yijun-Li Qian (Chn) bt Goh Soon Huat-Lai Shevon Jemie (Mas) 21-19, 21-23, 23-21; Gao Jiaxuan-Wu Mengying (Chn) bt Dejan Ferdinansyah-Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu (Ina) 22-20, 21-14; Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui (Chn) bt Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Yin (Mas) 21-8, 23-21; Wu Hsuan-Yi-Yang Chu Yun (Tpe) bt Hiroki Midorikawa-Mao Yamakita (Jpn) 21-19, 21-23, 21-18; Haruki Kawabe-Kokona Ishikawa (Jpn) bt Yang Po-Hsuan-Hu Ling Fang (Tpe) 15-21, 21-4, 21-19; Akira Koga-Natsu Saito (Jpn) bt Chan Yin Chak-Ng Tsz Yau (Hkg) 21-19, 21-14; Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) bt Jerry Yu Zhirui-Tse Ying Suet (Hkg) 21-15, 21-17
