Japan qualified for the quarter-finals of the Uber Cup badminton championships in Horsens, Denmark. But, the Japanese side were given a shock when they lost the opening singles before prevailing 4-1 over Turkiye.
Japan, chose to rest their top singles player Akane Yamaguchi, and fielded their teen prodigy Tomoka Miyazaki as first singles.
Miyazaki was stunned 21-16, 18-21, 19-21 by Neslihan Arin in a match that lasted a grueling 82-minutes.
Arin had broken away at 9-9 in the second set to claim the second. But it was from 16-18 down in the third that the Turkish shuttler went on to pound with power and snatch the opening rubber from Japan.
Aside from the early setback, Japan were far too strong in the remaining matches to confirm their place in the quarter-finals.
Turkiye had given a great account of themselves in their opening tie against Malaysia on Saturday, going down 2-3.
Japan play Malaysia in their Group B top of the table clash.
Canada’s women were once again combative in Group C, having lost their opening tie 2-3 to Indonesia. Last night Chinese Taipei felt the heat as the Canadians forced the contest into the fifth match.
Wins by Michelle Li and Catherine Choi/Crystal Lai made it 2-2 for Canada, but with some luck it could well have been the Canadians celebrating victory. Wen Yu Zhang lost a close contest in the second singles to Lin Hsiang Ti, 21-18 in the third.
Finally though it was Chinese Taipei who came through, thanks to Huang Yu-Hsun, who overcame Rachel Chan 21-17 21-15.
RESULTS
THOMAS CUP
Group C
Denmark beat Sweden 4-1 (Anders Antonsen bt Gustav Bjorkler 21-18, 21-11; Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen bt Jesper Borgstedt-Joel Hansson 21-10, 21-8; Magnus Johannesen bt Kim Linell 21-8, 21-16; Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vetergaard lost to Ludwig Axelsson-Filip Karlborg 12-21, 14-21; Ditlev Jaeger Holm bt Romeo Makboul 21-18, 21-11)
UBER CUP
Group B
Japan beat Turkiye 4-1 (Tomoka Miyazaki lost to Neslihan Arin 21-16, 18-21, 19-21; Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanoshi bt Yasemen Bektas-Bengsiu Ercetin 21-13, 21-14; Riko Gunji bt Ozge Bayrak 21-4, 21-13; Arisa Igarashi-Mayu Matsumoto bt Ikra Elif Ozyigit-Sinem Yildiz 21-6, 21-7; Hina Akechi bt Zehra Erdem 21-11, 21-10)
Group C
Indonesia beat Australia (Putri Kusuma Wardani bt Tiffany Ho 21-5, 21-10; Thalita Ramadhani Wiryawan bt Faye Huo 21-11, 21-14; Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo bt Jesslyn Carrisia 21-14, 21-5; Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti bt Gronya Somerville-Angela Yu 19-21, 21-8, 21-11; Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Rachel Allessya Rose bt Jesslyn Carrisia-Victoria Tjonadi 21-7, 21-12)
Chinese Taipei beat Canada 3-2 (Chiu Pin-Chian lost to Michelle Li 12-21, 17-21; Hsieh Pei Shan-Hung En-Tzu bt Josephine Wu-Eliana Zhang 21-8, 21-12; Lin Hsiang Ti bt Wen Yu Zhang 19-21, 21-11, 21-18; Hsu Yin-Hui-Sung Yu-Hsuan lost to Catherine Choi-Crystal Lai 19-21, 21-19, 14-21; Huang Yu-Hsun bt Rachel Chan 21-17, 21-15)
