Taiwan’s top male singles and doubles badminton players advanced into the second round of the Japan Open on Tuesday after clinching their opening round matches in Osaka.
Fresh off a bronze medal performance at the World Championships in Tokyo last week, world No. 6 Chou Tien-chen (???) toppled world No. 15 Lee Cheuk Yiu (???) of Hong Kong 18-21, 21-17, 21-15 in 75 minutes at the Super 750 tournament.
The 32-year-old Chou had a similarly taxing three-game marathon to top Lee in the third round of the World Championships last week, but he seemed in bigger trouble after blowing a 17-14 lead to drop the opening game in Osaka.
He sped out to an 11-5 lead in the second game, but needed to rally late after Lee came back to tie it up at 16-all.
In the final game, Chou again held a commanding edge after an eight-point run that put him up 14-7, only for Lee to rattle off five straight points to pull to within 14-12.
But the Taiwanese veteran, who has a habit of playing long, drawn-out matches, took the next four points and was not threatened after that.
He will next play world No. 23 Lu Guangzu (???) of China.
Chou’s world ranking actually dropped two spots this week despite his third-place finish in Tokyo, because he picked up fewer ranking points (9,200) than the 12,000 he lost when the Blibli Indonesia Open in July 2019, which Chou won, was cut from the rankings.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Olympic gold medalists Lee Yang (??) and Wang Chi-lin (???) were pushed by compatriots Lu Ching-yao (???) and Yang Po-han (???) before prevailing 21-12, 28-26 in 41 minutes.
Lee and Wang, who were ousted in the third round of the World Championships men’s doubles last week but are seeded fourth in Osaka, will next face world No. 15 duo Ben Lane and Sean Vendy of England in the second round.
The Japan Open, held Aug. 30-Sept. 4 in Osaka, carries a total purse of US$750,000 (NT$22.839 million).
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel