Kuala Lumpur: Women’s singles No. 1 seed Tai Tzu Ying has entered the Malaysia Open quarter-final with ease at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday when the Taiwanese needed just 28 minutes to outlast Michelle Li of Canada.
Tai will battle local player, Goh Jin Wei for a spot in the semi-final.
Goh, who won the 2015 World junior champion, survived two match points against No. 7 seed Sung Ji Hyun of Korea 15-21, 21-18, 23-21 to reach the quarter-finals.
“This victory meant a lot to me because I was able to beat one of the world’s best players in a fierce battle, especially when we were tied 19-19 in the decider,” said Goh.
“The fans really motivated me to fight for every points,” added Goh.
In some other women’s singles matches, No. 2 seed Akane Yamaguchi won a relatively easy match by beating Saina Nehwal of India 21-15, 21-13, while No. 3 seed PV Sindhu of India didn’t give local shuttler Lee Ying Ying any chances to get into her game as the Indian shuttler defeated Lee 21-8, 21-14.
Yamaguchi will take on No. 8 seed He Bingjiao of China and Sindhu is set to meet Carolina Marin on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Rio Olympic women’s singles champion and No. 6 seed Carolina Marin of Spain rallied to beat Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong 24-22, 21-11 in 37 minutes.
