Muelheim: Viktor Axelsen and Tai Tzu Ying took the spotlights on their first tournament of the season on the opening day of the 2022 German Open as they looked sharp to defeat their first-round foes on Tuesday.
Axelsen smashed Max Weisskirchen of Germany 21-11, 21-14 in 33 minutes and will play Toma Junior Popov of France in the second round.
Axelsen’s first-round opponent was originally the World No. 14 Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan, but Tsuneyama couldn’t make it to the competition, and Max Weisskirchen was sent to replace the spot vacated by the Japanese.
“It’s been some time since I last played in a tournament. I want to go there to get some of my rusty feelings out,” said Axelsen.
“Obviously, I hope to do well here,” added Axelsen.
In men’s doubles, China’s 2017 men’s doubles world champions – Liu Cheng/Zhang Nan suffered a shock exit in the first round, losing to Supak Jomkoh/Kittinupong Kedren of Thailand 19-21, 19-21.
The World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying was the highest-ranked player to advance in the women’s singles category. Tai outlasted Iris Wang of USA 21-11, 21-15 to meet Sayaka Takahashi of Japan in the second round.
Meanwhile, the Tokyo Olympics gold medalist – Chen Yufei of China also got off to a strong start by beating Phittayaporn Chaiwan of Thailand 21-13, 21-9. Chen will take on another Thai player – Supanida Katethong in the second round.
