TOKYO — Reigning women’s champion and top seed
Akane Yamaguchi cruised through her opening game at the world badminton championships
on Tuesday, while men’s number one Viktor Axelsen continued his smooth
progress.
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Japan’s Yamaguchi beat Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska
Tunjung 21–12, 21–15 in front of an appreciative home crowd in Tokyo to kick
off her hunt for a second straight world title.
“I wasn’t really nervous but you do get players who
lose in the first round and go straight out, so I was really focused on getting
the result,” said 25-year-old Yamaguchi.
“I never felt that I had any breathing space until
towards the end of the second game. It was more about dealing with my opponent
than me going on the attack.”
Spain’s Carolina Marin, who is aiming to win a
record fourth world title in Tokyo, got her campaign off to a steady start with
a 21–16, 21–14 win over Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang.
Former world number one Marin endured a horror 2021,
missing both the pandemic-delayed
Tokyo Olympics and the world championships in
her hometown of Huelva after suffering an ACL injury.
Marin returned to action in April this year but she
said Tuesday that she was “not 100 percent yet”.
“This is the condition that I have right now and I
have to play in this condition,” said Marin, seeded number five for the
competition.
“Let’s see how far I can go in this tournament.”
There were also first-round wins for South Korean
number three seed An Se-young — 21–18, 21–10 over Vietnam’s Thuy Linh Nguyen --
and India’s Saina Nehwal, who beat Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi 21–19, 21–9.
On the men’s side,
Denmark’s Axelsen was pushed hard
in the first game of his second-round match against Mark Caljouw of the
Netherlands before hitting his stride in a 21–19, 21–10 win.
Axelsen has lost only one match on tour this season
and he was again ruthless in putting away Caljouw.
Men’s number two seed Kento Momota will play India’s
HS Prannoy on Wednesday.
China’s Shi Yuqi, who is returning from a 10-month
ban from the Chinese Badminton Association, continued his comeback with a
21–13, 21–16 second-round win over Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke.
Shi, a world finalist in 2018, retired during a 2021
match against Momota and was banned by the Chinese Badminton Association for
making “inappropriate comments” about his withdrawal.
He said he was “trying to prepare myself mentally to
get better and better” after beating Gemke.
“I’m just taking it one step at a time but I’m hoping to get
to the final and win the title,” he said.
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