Tokyo: After defeated by Huang Yuxiang of China in the second round of Indonesia Open last Thursday, Japan’s World No. 1 men’s singles player Kento Momota made a winning return with a dominant Japan Open first round victory over Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark, winning 21-17, 22-20.
The No. 1 seed from Japan will play Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen in the second round.
Chinese badminton star Chen Long, however, bid an early farewell to the tournament after losing to Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama in men’s singles first round action.
Chen Long conceded 14-21, 17-21 in 52 minutes. Tsuneyama will play Sai B Praneeth of India next.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Daren Liew went down 20-22, 10-21 to Thailand’s Sitthikom Thammasin in the opener.
In an-all Malaysian men’s doubles first round battle, World No. 11 Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik fended off a spirited challenge from World No. 22 Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi to set up a second round encounter with World No. 6 Han Cheng Kai/Zhou Hao Dong of China.
The women’s singles competition saw Korea’s World No. 29 Kim Ga Eun pulled off a first round upset by beating former World champion and No. 7 seed Ratchanok Intanon 21-15, 21-13 to enter second round. The Korean will meet Michelle Li of Canada on Thursday.
In mixed doubles, Malaysia’s World No. 5 mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying swept into the second round with an enthralling straight-set triumph over World No. 12 He Jiting/Du Yue 23-21, 21-17 in the opener. They will next take on Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue of France who saw off Indonesia’s Tontowi Ahmad/Winny Oktavina Kandow 21-15, 21-13 on Tuesday.
