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Patna : World No 2 in Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings Akane Yamaguchi, 22, Japan, and World No 8 Saina Nehwal, India, tumbled out of Korea Open, an HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500 event, at Incheon, South Korea, due to injury on September 25, 2019. But, World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying, Taiwan, and World No 3 Nozomi Okuhara, Japan, advanced to the 2nd round of the tournament.
World No 30 Fitriani Fitriani, Indonesia, entered the 2nd round after top seed Akane Yamaguchi retired in the first game after 8 minutes leading 11-10. World No 24 Kim Ga Eun, South Korea, advanced to the 2nd round after her first round opponent and World No 8 Saina Nehwal, India, retired due to injury in the third game trailing 1-8. Saina had won the first game 21-19 but lost the second game 18-21.
Third seed Tai Tzu Ying, 25, Taiwan, beat World No 16 Busanan Ongbamrungphan, 23, Thailand, 21-13, 21-9 in 32 minutes to advance to the 2nd round. Tai Tzu, who had reached the women’s singles final at Victor China Open last week, won 42 rallies in the match to 22 by Busanan. She won 6 consecutive points to 2 by Busanan. Tai Tzu now leads Busanan 9-3 Head to Head.
Fourth seed Okuhara, the 2017 World Champion, beat World N0 52 Sim Yu Jin, South Korea, 21-9, 21-14 in 32 minutes to enter the 2nd round. Okuhara won 42 rallies in the match to 23 by Jin. She won 12 consecutive points in the match to 4 by Jin. Okuhara had lost in the 1st round of China Open last week.