Nanjing: Friday was day of upsets at the 2018 World Championships as the No. 1 seeds in women’s singles, men’s singles, men’s doubles and women’s doubles all fell in the quarter-finals at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center in Nanjing, China.
The Taiwanese player Tai Tzu Ying finally lost her second match of the season in 37 matches when she was outlasted by He Bingjiao of China 18-21, 21-7, 21-13. Despite winning the second set, Tai was not able to maintain her momentum in the third to go down to He in 55 minutes.
“I have played against her many times, we both know the weaknesses of each other clearly,” said Tai.
“The problem was I couldn’t control my bad habit, kept making a lot of unforced errors,” added Tai.
“I am not too concern about this loss, I’ll treat it as just another defeat, I will still try to play my best in upcoming tournaments.”
He Bingjiao will set up a semi-final clash against Carolina Marin of Spain.
In men’s singles, Viktor Axelsen of Denmark who became the first European to win the men’s singles world title in 20 years in 2017, was struggling and losing to Chen Long 19-21, 11-21 in a one-hour battle.
“I stuck with my tactics no matter how my opponent was doing – taking a lead or falling behind,” Chen said. “I firmly believed that I could go all out to win this match.”
Chen will next face Chinese compatriot Shi Yuqi.
On the men’s doubles side, Indonesia’s No. 1 seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo couldn’t find their rhythms, going down to No. 5 seeds Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda of Japan 19-21, 18-21. The Japanese pair will meet No. 14 seeds Chen Hung Ling/Wang Chi-lin of Taiwan next.
In women’s doubles, defending champions Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan of China fought tooth and nail over No. 5 seeds Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu of Indonesia before surrendering 21-23, 21-23. Polii/Rahayu will meet Japan’s No. 11 seeds Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara on Saturday.
