Badminton cruises through individual events…’Women’s singles’ Ahn Se-young makes light work of quarterfinals
After winning two medals (one gold and one bronze) in the team competition at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, badminton continued its winning ways in the individual competition. The doubles team, including ‘Ace’ Ahn Se-young, also cruised, raising the prospect of further gold medals.
Ahn defeated world No. 205 Abdul Razak Fatimas Nabaha (Maldives) 2-0 (21-4 21-6) in the women’s singles round of 16 at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games at Binjiang Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China, on Thursday.
Ahn, who reached the round of 32 in 23 minutes, was in dominant form against the underdog Nabaha.
After closing out the first game 21-4 in 10 minutes, Ahn took control of the second game from the start and closed out the match 21-6. The match lasted just 21 minutes.
Ahn, who won her first gold medal of the tournament by beating hosts China in the team event earlier in the day, will be a strong favorite in the individual competition.
Ahn’s gold medal hopes have been boosted by the withdrawal of rival Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) due to injury.
Her teammate in the women’s singles, Kim Ga-eun (Samsung Life), also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-0 (21-13 21-9) victory over Pornpawee Chochuwong (Thailand).
The world No. 3 women’s doubles team of Kim So-young and Gong Hee-young defeated India’s Trija Jolie and Gayatri Gopichand 2-1 (21-15 18-21 21-13) in the round of 16 of the women’s doubles to reach the quarterfinals.
Kim So-young and Gong Hee-yong took the first game to take a commanding lead, but struggled to fight back in the second game to level the match.
Surprised by India’s strength, the duo refocused and found their stride in the third game. The Koreans took an early lead and cruised to a 21-13 victory to advance to the quarterfinals.
The world No. 2 women’s doubles team of Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee cruised to a 2-0 (21-16 21-7) victory over Chinese Taipei’s Hsiu Ya-jing and Lin Wan-hsing to reach the quarterfinals.
Mixed doubles also saw a victory. Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yoo-jung advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-0 (21-13 21-10) victory over Thailand’s Teachapol Puavaranukro and Sapsiri Taeratthanachai.
The pair, who were knocked out in the round of 16 in mixed doubles at the Jakarta-Palembang Games five years ago, will be looking to go beyond the quarterfinals and win gold.
In the men’s doubles, the South Korean pair of Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho, ranked 15th in the world, defeated China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, ranked second in the world, 2-1 (21-10 18-21 23-21) in a close match to reach the quarterfinals. 토토사이트
After taking the first game in style, the Koreans were brought to their knees by the Chinese in the second game.
The final game went down to deuce, with the Koreans coming from behind to take the first two points and secure a valuable victory.
Meanwhile, the world No. 4 men’s doubles pair of Seo Seung-jae and Kang Min-hyuk fell 1-2 (19-21 21-18 13-21) to the world No. 8 pair of Liu Yuchen and Wu Xuan (China), ending their run to the quarterfinals.
Seo and Kang suffered their first defeat at the Asian Games after winning their previous three matches against Liu Yuchen and Wu Xuan at the international level.