Muelheim: The women’s World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying, the reigning women’s singles world champion – Akane Yamaguchi, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics mixed doubles champions Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dong Ping suffered shock upsets on an action-packed Day 3 at the German Open.
Tai, the top-ranked player in the women’s category, was sent packing by World No. 13 Sayaka Takahashi of Japan on Thursday. Takahashi needed only 34 minutes to beat Tai 21-15, 21-18.
“I was really impatient today, therefore, I made a lot of unforced errors,” said Tai after the match.
“Takahashi was playing with a quick tempo, and the more unforced errors I made, the more pressure I felt on the court,” added Tai.
Takahashi will play Zhang Yi Man of China who defeated World No. 7 PV Sindhu of India 21-14, 15-21, 21-14 in the second round.
In another women’s match, the reigning women’s world champion, Akane Yamaguchi of Japan found energy hard to come by as she uncharacteristically lost to World No. 9 He Bing Jiao of China 17-21, 11-21.
He Bing Jiao will take on Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand on Friday.
While the men’s and women’s games have been very volatile, and unpredictable, the upset jinx continued in mixed doubles, after the Tokyo Olympics mixed doubles gold medalist – Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dong Ping dropped to compatriots Ou Xuan Yi/Huang Ya Qiong 13-21, 18-21.
Ou/Huang will battle Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue of France in the last eight.
On the other hand, Malaysia’s World No. 10 Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing have advanced to the quarter-finals. Tan/Lai will face reigning mixed doubles world champions – Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand on Friday.
