Taipei: Wang Shixian made a flying start in the women’s singles first round at Yonex Chinese Taipei Open with a 21-14, 21-16 rout of Taiwan’s Hung Shih Han in 33 minutes on Wednesday.
The No. 1 seed Wang Shixian showed why she is the firm favorite to win the tournament, demolishing Hung in her opening match to record the first win in their first career meet.
Wang will take on qualifier Kim Na Young of Korea in the second round.
However, the No. 5 seed women’s singles player Porntip Buranaprasertsuk was stunned by the unseeded Lee Jang Mi, losing 15-21, 12-21 in 34 minutes.
In men’s competition, World No. 6 Tian Houwei of China cruised to men’s singles third round after staving off a challenge from a Malaysia’s independent shuttler Tan Chun Seang in 25 minutes.
Former Malaysian national player Daren Liew recovered from a 7-12 deficit in the second set to knock out home shuttler Kuo Ching-Hung 21-12, 21-19 in 31 minutes. Liew will play compatriot and No. 13 seed Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin on Thursday after Zainuddin dismissed Derek Wong of Singapore 21-10, 21-14 in the second round.
There was more good news for the Malaysia camp, as mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying, Lai Pei Jing/Tan Kian Meng, and men’s doubles pair Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong all managed to get to the next round.
