Badminton WC: China’s Li Shifeng, Loh Kean Yew & Jonatan Christie crash out (Ld)
New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS) Chinese player Li Shifeng and the 2021 winner Loh Kean Yew of Singapore crashed out of the men’s singles section of the BWF World Championship 2026 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday.
Shifeng lost a hard-fought three-game match against Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the Round of 16 of the men’s singles event. Li squandered a one-game advantage to go down 13-21, 23-21, 21-11. Defending champion Shi Yuqi and Weng Hongyang were both eliminated in earlier rounds.
Loh Kean Yew, who is ranked 13th in this edition, went down to seventh seed Victor Lai of Canada, 22-20, 21-18. There was another upset as Rasmus Gemke of Denmark stunned third seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia, 11-21, 21-13, 21-18.
In women’s singles, third-seeded Wang Zhiyi of China fought her way into the quarterfinals, overcoming ninth-seeded P. V. Sindhu 21-11, 15-21, 21-17 in an 88-minute thriller, reports Xinhua.
Her compatriot Han Yue also advanced after a hard-fought three-game victory by beating South Korea’s Kim Ga-eun 21-19, 20-22, 21-14. Former Olympic champion Chen Yufei exited, beaten by Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong 15-21, 25-23, 21-17.
In men’s doubles, Chinese pair Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang survived a three-game thriller against Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, prevailing 22-20, 8-21, 21-19.
In women’s doubles, top seeds Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning eased past Bulgarian sisters Gabriela and Stefani Stoeva 21-16, 21-18. Fourth-seeded Jia Yifan/Zhang Shuxian and Li Yijing/Luo Xumin also sealed quarterfinal spots.
China’s mixed pairs kept their strong momentum going. Top seeds Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping defeated Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Mayu Taguchi 21-19, 21-18, while fellow duos Jiang Zhenbang/Wei Yaxin, Cheng Xing/Zhang Chi and Guo Xinwa/Chen Fanghui also booked their quarterfinal berths.
Important results:
Men’s singles: 7-Victor Lai (CAN) bt 13-Loh Kean Yew (SGP) 22-20, 21-18; Rasmus Gemke (DEN) bt 3-Jonatan Christie (INA) 11-21, 21-13, 21-18; 11-Alwi Farhan (INA) bt Ayush Shetty (IND) 21-19, 21-11; 10-Kodai Naraoka (JPN) bt 8-Li Shi Feng (CHN) 13-21, 23-21, 21-11
Women’s singles: 1-An Se Young (KOR) bt 16-Mia Blichfeldt (DEN) 21-16, 21-10; 10-Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA) bt 4-Chen Yufei (CHN) 15-21, 25-23, 21-17; 13-Michelle Li (CAN) bt 8-Tomoka Miyazaki (JPN) 17-21, 21-16, 21-18; 2-Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) bt 14-Sim You Jin (KOR) 21-17, 21-10; 15-Line Chirstophersen (DEN) bt 6-Putri Wardani (INA) 21-18, 21-17; 3-Wang Zhi Yi (CHN) bt 9-PV Sindhu (IND) 21-11, 15-21, 21-17
Men’s doubles: 5-Chirag Shetty/Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (IND) bt Junaidi Arif/Yap Roy King (MAS) 21-23, 21-19, 21-17; 3-Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang (CHN) bt Kim Astrup/Anders Rasmussen (DEN) 22-20, 8-21, 21-19
Women’s doubles: Gayatri Gopichand/Treesa Jolly (IND) bt 7-Rin Iwanaga/Kie Nakanishi (JPN) 21-16, 21-12; 4-Jia Yi Fan/Zhang Shu Xian bt Hsieh Pei Shan/Hung En-Tzu (TPE) 21-11, 21-18; 13-Febriana Kusuma/Meilysa Puspitasari (INA) bt 5-Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan (MAS) 20-22, 21-18, 21-12;
Mixed doubles: 6-Guo Xin Wa/Chen Fang Hui (CHN) bt 15-Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto (IND) 21-16, 21-5; 11-Yang Po-Husan/Hu Ling Fang (TPE) bt 3-Mathias Christiansen/Alexandra Boje (DEN) 21-13, 9-21, 21-14
–IANS
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