Badminton WC: Chen, Yamaguchi reach second round
New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) Tokyo Olympic champion Chen Yufei of China and defending champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan both reached the women’s singles second round of the 2026 BWF World Championships in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Fourth-seeded Chen rallied from one game down to beat Lo Sin Yan Happy of Hong Kong, China, 18-21, 21-8, 21-11.
“I made some adjustments after the first game, such as making myself more excited and moving faster on the court,” said Chen, who added that winning the title was only one of her goals, while learning and making progress through competitions were also important.
Chen will next face Ukraine’s Polina Buhrova, who overcame Prakriti Bharath of the UAE 21-13, 20-22, 21-14 to advance, reports Xinhua.
Second-seeded Yamaguchi eased past Nguyen Thuy Linh of Vietnam 21-12, 21-10, while compatriot Nozomi Okuhara secured a 2-1 win over Ozge Bayrak of Turkey.
On the men’s side, Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie defeated Germany’s Matthias Kicklitz in straight games, while fifth-seeded Christo Popov of France was stunned by Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto 21-17, 21-19.
Women’s doubles top seeds Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning of China needed only 35 minutes to beat Pham Thi Dieu Ly and Pham Thi Khanh of Vietnam 21-10, 21-11. Another Chinese pair, Jia Yifan and Zhang Shuxian, also clinched a straight-game win over Lui Lok Lok and Tsang Hiu Yan of Hong Kong, China.
Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, seeded fourth, reached the men’s doubles last 16 by defeating Thailand’s Peeratchai Sukphun and Pakkapon Teeraratsakul 15-21, 21-11, 21-18.
Earlier on Monday, Defending champion and top men’s singles seed Shi Yuqi suffered a stunning first-round defeat on the opening day as he crashed out in a three-game thriller against India’s Ayush Shetty.
A late comeback was not enough to stop Shi’s early exit as the world No. 1 Chinese shuttler was edged out 21-14, 13-21, 21-19 after the 73-minute battle.
On the women’s side, South Korea’s favourite An Se-young eliminated Bulgaria’s Kaloyana Nalbantova 21-14, 21-13. China’s Wang Zhiyi, An’s biggest rival, defeated Zhang Beiwen of the United States 21-12, 21-13 in just 36 minutes.
–IANS
bsk/