JAKARTA, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Reigning Olympic champion Chen Long secured his position in the men's singles quarterfinals, while other Chinese shuttlers experienced a bitter-sweet day in the women's singles round of 16 at the 18th Asian Games here on Saturday.
In his first encounter with South Korean Heo Kwang-hee, Chen savored the first-game victory of 24-22 following late-game tussle, and went on to triumph in the second game 21-18 through Heo's poor return.
"When my opponent came back, I still steadied my nerves, that was quite important," said Chen, who will take on Indonesian shuttler Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, who upset reigning world champion Kento Momota of Japan 21-18, 21-18.
Heo showed satisfaction with his performance, also expressing his hope to beat Chen some day.
"I'm good at attacking, but it seems that Chen is used to that through solid defense," Heo pointed out.
Men's singles last eight featured prominent names including Son Wan-ho, Ng Ka Long Angus and Kenta Nishimoto. Jonatan Christie, who had knocked out top-seeded Shi Yuqi on Friday, also continued his journey in his hometown.
In women's singles contention, China's Chen Yufei surfaced past veteran Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong, China in straight sets, but He Bingjiao lost again to Japan's Nozomi Okuhara.
Chen possessed three game points in the first game, before all were saved by Yip, who appeared in the Asian Games for the fourth consecutive time. Chen won the following two points to take away the first game 22-20.
Chen trailed by 11-16 in the second game, before bouncing back to cap her victory of 21-17.
"I didn't perform so well as in previous matches, thus suffering more difficulties today, but I tried my best to motivate myself," Chen pointed out.
In Sunday's quarterfinals, Chen will face Japan's highest-ranked Akane Yamaguchi. Chen won the last time in straight sets in the team final.
Talking about the rematch, Chen showed her confidence. "Maybe my opponent will make some changes tomorrow, but I will fully prepare myself for this tough match," she said.
Prior to Saturday's duel, He lost to Okuhara in the Asian Games team final, where China fell 3-1 to Japan to be dethroned for the first time in two decades.
This time, the proceedings underwent in a simpler manner, as Okuhara triumphed 21-10, 21-12 in 34 minutes.
World No. 1 Tai Tzuying, along with Pusarla V. Sindhu and Ratchanok Intanon, also made into the last eight.
In women's doubles quarterfinals, third-seeded Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan of China eased past India's Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki N. Reddy 21-11, 24-22.
Tang Jinhua and Zheng Yu surrendered two match points and lost to home favorites Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu 18-21, 24-22, 21-16 in grueling 80 minutes.
"As it's the first time that we pair up in major tournaments, we want to challenge highly-ranked opponents in the match," said Tang.
"Despite the loss, we felt a boost in our confidence. It earned us huge experience beneficial to the future," Zheng pointed out.
Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping secured mixed doubles semifinal berth after beating Japanese duo Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino 21-17, 18-21, 21-17.
"We conceded several errors when leading in the second game, and gave opponents chance of coming back," said Wang, admitting that he felt quite nervous at that time. "Luckily we held on until the end."
In another duel between Chinese and Japanese shuttlers, top-seeded Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong repeated their teammates' success by overcoming Takuro Hoki/Koharu Yonemoto 21-13, 21-15.
Chinese pair Liu Cheng and Zhang Nan wasted their 22-20 victory in the opening game to fall 21-16, 21-16 to Lee Jhehuei and Lee Yang of Chinese Taipei in men's doubles round of 16.
World champions Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen were also forced a decider by Indian Manu Attri and Sumeeth B. Reddy, before moving on 21-13, 17-21, 25-23.
"We didn't control the speed and rhythm quite well. It was hard to return their serves. They tried their best to make us feel more burdens," said Liu.
"Our opponents conceded errors on crucial points, and that gave us chance," commented Li, shrugging off any pressure following their teammates' early exit.
Top seeds marched on in doubles, with men's doubles No. 3 seed Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda as exception. The Japanese pair lost disappointingly in straight sets.
