Men’s Doubles third seeds Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen bit the dust today in the opening session of the Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2017 as they were outplayed by Lee Jhe-Huei and Lee Yang.
The Chinese Taipei pair (featured image) avenged their defeat at the hands of the Danes at the Thaihot China Open last year, coming through a close second round match 21-18 21-18 to book a quarter-final spot.
Denmark had more bad luck later when Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen failed to convert three game points and went down to China’s Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen 21-12 23-21.
Women’s Singles second seed Sung Ji Hyun (Korea) had no problems in navigating past Bulgaria’s Linda Zetchiri, as she used her experience from the Premier Badminton League to good effect in the 21-6 21-8 whitewash.
“I played the Premier League here and the experience has helped,” said Sung. “The scoring system was different though – it was for 11 points, and I realised the importance of not letting go of your control. I learnt how to control each point better.
“At the moment I’m trying to improve my technique. I have to stay tough mentally and physically through the match. My half-smash is good, but I’m working on better consistency and accuracy.”
Others to progress included Nozomi Okuhara, who prevailed over compatriot Sayaka Sato in three games, and another Japanese, Akane Yamaguchi.
In Men’s Singles, Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus fought off a 6-15 deficit in the first game to rein in Korea’s Lee Dong Keun. The Dane got increasingly comfortable as the match progressed, with Lee appearing clueless once the lead had been whittled away.
“It took some time for me to feel comfortable,” said Vittinghus. “His lifts were short and I felt I had attacking opportunities; that made me a bit eager to capitalise instead of using variations in my game. I kept attacking harder and harder and missed a few shots. As soon as I felt a bit more comfortable I felt good on court.
“He’s a very solid player. His defence is great, his movement is great, but he doesn’t have so many weapons to open up his opponent. I feel if I can get comfortable, it’s difficult for him to create the points.
“I’m very happy with my performance over two days. I’m happy to be in quarter-finals again, it’s six months since I was in a Superseries quarter-final.”
Thailand’s Bodin Isara/Savitree Amitrapai, Japan’s Kenta Kazuno/Ayane Kurihara and Russia’s Evgenij Dremin/Evgenia Dimova entered the Mixed Doubles quarter-finals.
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