Top seed Shi falters, stars fare differently in Asian Games badminton

Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 22:01:55|Editor: Li Xia
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JAKARTA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's top-seeded shuttler Shi Yuqi bade early farewell, and established players mixed up their journey at the 18th Asian Games here on Friday.

Shi, the runner-up at the World Championships, lost to hosts favorite Jonatan Christie in full sets after 71 minutes in the men's singles round of 32.

The 20-year-old Indonesian posed great threat to Shi with his feet movement and precise smashing in the first game.

After both players tied at 19, Christie grasped his opportunity to snatch two points in a row for an upper hand.

Shi regrouped himself in the second game and forced a decider by triumphing 21-19.

Following an early-game tussle in the decider, Christie built an 11-9 lead at the changeover, and withstood stiff resistance to stun the top seed 21-17.

Olympic gold medalist Chen Long withstood challenges at the start to rush past Muhammad Irfan Saeed Bhatti of Pakistan 21-8, 21-10.

"Today's match was about adjustment as my opponent was not strong," said Chen, adding that he hopes to do well in every match and adjust himself as the tournament goes underway.

Japanese ace Momota Kento surfaced into last 16 through a 21-9, 21-10 victory over Bikash Shrestha of Nepal.

Talking about a possible clash against Momota in quarter-finals, Chen said that his priority was to perform well in round of 16 match.

Third-seeded Son Wan-ho of South Korea also moved on, but it was not Kidambi Srikanth's day, as the sixth-seeded Indian shuttler suffered an agonizing 23-21, 21-19 loss to Wong Wing Ki Vincent of Hong Kong, China.

In mixed doubles, China's Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong were made to sweat, moving past Lee Yang and Hsu Yaching of Chinese Taipei 21-19, 21-16.

Zheng said that he felt "over excited" about his debut in the tournament, while lacking a sense of space in smashing the ball.

They were joined by teammates Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping in quarter-finals, as the Chinese pair ousted Che Pui Ngai and Gong Xuexin of Macau, China 21-7, 21-8 in 19 minutes.

"We just tried our best to adjust to the venue. We had not fared well in Indonesia before. Hopefully we can play to our level here this time," commented Wang.

Women's doubles pair Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan overcame Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand 21-15, 21-17.

Chen and Jia triumphed last duel in full sets in the team semi-finals.

"We take every match as the final one, so we feel nothing different this time," said Chen.

Tang Jinhua/Zheng Yu also booked their place in women's doubles quarter-finals after beating Hsu Yaching and Wu Tijung of Chinese Taipei 21-17, 21-14.

World No. 1 pair Fukushima Yuki/Hirota Sayaka, along with their fellow Japanese Matsutomo Misaki and Takahashi Ayaka, advanced to women's doubles final eight in straight sets.

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