Sydney: China’s Lu Guangzu bagged a 20-22, 21-15, 21-16 victory over the top seed and world No.2 Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia on Thursday, storming into the men’s singles quarterfinals of the Australia Open 2022 badminton.
“I executed my tactics well today. Despite a loss in the opening set, I stuck to my tactics to the end, which yielded a good result,” Lu told Xinhua, adding that he felt more relaxed as the game progressed and happy about the win.
In the Round-of-16 match against his compatriot Weng Hongyang, Shi Yuqi sprinted to a 21-14, 21-7 win in 37 minutes.
Though bowing out from the tournament after losing to Singaporean player Loh Kean Yew, who is the second seed and world No.3, the 22-year-old Li Shifeng showed his competence by hitting 10-21, 21-12, 21-23 on the scoreboard.
“There is a pity for me. Given the points, it seems that I played pretty well. I had some leading time in the third set, but I’m not satisfied with my performance in the last minutes,” Li said.
Malaysia’s Tze Yong Ng too advanced, beating Kwang Hee Heo of South Korea 21-16, 19-21, 21-5 while Japan’s Koki Watanabe got the better of compatriot Kenta Nishimoto 21-13, 22-20 while another Japanese Kodai Naraoka defeated Indonesia’s Christian Adinata 21-11, 21-16.
China’s mixed doubles pair Huang Dongping and Feng Yanzhe got their second bite of glory, seeing off South Korea’s Lee Yu Lim and Kim Young Hyuk 21-12, 14-21, 21-15 through a 55-minute test.
“The opponents we faced today posed a tougher challenge than our first-round game,” Huang told Xinhua. “Though the second set didn’t end in our favour and we didn’t compete with enough patience in the first half of the decider, we later adjusted ourselves and focused on every racket without aiming too high.”
China’s Han Yue secured a berth in the women’s singles quarterfinals with a comfortable 21-6, 21-10 win over Australia’s Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen. The seventh-seeded and world No.12 Han will next play the fourth-seeded Nozomi Okuhara of Japan.
The Chinese women’s doubles pair of Zheng Shuxian and Zheng Yu overcame Meilysa Trias Puspita Sari/Rachel Allessya Rose of Indonesia 21-14, 21-8, reports Xinhua.
In the men’s doubles, He Jiting and Zhou Haodong extended their winning streak by ousting Nipitphon Phuangphuapet of Thailand and Tang Huaidong of Australia 21-14, 21-14, while Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi also made it to the quarterfinals by winning over South Korea’s Choi Sol Gyu/Kim Won Ho 18-21, 21-18, 21-18.
Another Chinese derby will take place between He/Zhou and their compatriots Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang, who beat Indonesia’s Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Muhammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani 21-12, 13-21, 21-10 in the second round.
–IANS
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