No surprises on the World Badminton Championships, as top-seeded Viktor Axelsen and reigning champion Akane Yamaguchi advance to the third spherical.
TOKYO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) — Top-seeded Viktor Axelsen cruised into the third spherical of the boys’s singles on the World Badminton Championships on Tuesday, whereas reigning champion Akane Yamaguchi received her first match to start out her title protection on residence courtroom.
Denmark’s Axelsen scored 5 straight factors to take the primary set 21-19 when trailing 19-16, and received the second set 21-10 to get rid of Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands.
Axelsen has misplaced just one match on tour this season, and the Tokyo Olympic champion is taken into account the favourite for the event after returning to his “blessed land”.
“I’m really happy that I managed to turn it around, it’s good to be in the third round and I’m really looking forward to it,” mentioned Axelsen.
China’s Shi Yuqi, who returned to motion on the event after a 10-month suspension, took 46 minutes to down Rasmus Gemke of Denmark 21-13, 21-16 and attain the final 16.
The 2018 worlds finalist rated his efficiency “7 out of 10”, one level greater than his first-round present.
“I played much better than the first match, although this is still a long way from my best badminton,” he mentioned.
On the ladies’s aspect, Yamaguchi, who loved a bye within the opening spherical, defeated Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 21-12, 21-15, and can face compatriot Sayaka Takahashi subsequent spherical.
Yamaguchi had beforehand misplaced to Tunjung within the quarterfinals of final month’s Malaysia Masters.
“I never felt that I had any breathing space until towards the end of the second game. It was more about dealing with my opponent than me going on the attack,” the native favourite mentioned.
China’s He Bingjiao and Wang Zhiyi, who had each acquired byes into the second spherical, received their first matches of the event.
Ninth-seeded He defeated American Iris Wang 21-13, 21-7 and can now face Spain’s three-time world champion Carolina Marin, who eradicated Canada’s Zhang Wenyu 21-16, 21-14.
eleventh seed Wang superior with a victory over Denmark’s Line Christophersen 21-15, 21-14, and her subsequent opponent will likely be compatriot Han Yue.