Wuhan: World No. 1 Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand was in ruthless form on Wednesday as she surged through to the second round of the 2016 Badminton Asia Championship (BAC) with a 21-7, 21-11 victory over qualifier Malaysian shuttler Ho Yen Mei in 28 minutes. Intanon will battle Japanese Sayaka Sato in the second round on Wednesday.
However, women’s No. 1 seed Li Xuerui of China had to work hard to push all the way in the third set to roll over exhausted Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand 19-21, 21-6, 21-5 in 54 minutes. Li will play Akane Yamaguchi of Japan next.
The 2013 and 2014 world junior champion Akane Yamaguchi booked a spot in the second round after she repelled a spirited fight-back from the 2015 world junior champion Goh Jin Wei of Malaysia to carve out a 21-16, 23-21 win in 50 minutes.
“This is my first BAC tournament, and I got nervous towards the end,” said Goh.
“Yamaguchi played really well, she was able to return almost all my shots,” added Goh.
India’s shuttler Saina Nehwal also disposed Indonesian Fitriani Fitriani 21-16, 21-17 to take on Nitchaon Jindapol of Thailand on Thursday.
The women’s doubles competition saw Korean pair of Chang Ye Na and Lee So Hee defeated India’s Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa 21-15, 21-11, while top seeds Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi of Japan were given a first round bye and will start their second round match against Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan of China.