Yamaguchi beats Saina in BWF Hong Kong Open

Speed Post News Network

Patna : World No 9 in Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings Saina Nehwal, 28, India, lost to World No 2 Akane Yamaguchi, 21, Japan, in a three-game thriller in the first round of Yonex-Sunrise Hong Kong Open 2018 on November 14, 2018, at Hong Kong.

Number 2 seed Yamaguchi beat Saina 10-21, 21-10, 21-19 in 52 minutes to enter the second round of BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament. Yamaguchi won 52 rallies in the match to 50 by Saina. Both the players won 7 consecutive points each during the match. Yamaguchi now leads Saina 7-2 head to head.

World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying, 24, Taiwan, beat World No 32 Yip Pui Yin, 31, Hong Kong, in three-games to enter the second round. Top seed Ying beat Yin 16-21, 21-8, 21-14 in 45 minutes to enter the second round. Ying won 58 rallies in the match to 43 by Yin. Both the players won 7 consecutive points each during the match. Ying now leads Yin 9-1 head to head.

World No 17 Cai Yanyan, 18, China, beat World No 11 Sakaya Takahashi, 26, Japan, 17-21, 21-13, 21-19 in 52 minutes to enter the second round.

Reigning Olympic and World Champion Carolina Marine, 25, Spain, beat World No 25 Busanan Ongbamrungpham, 22, Thailand, 21-10, 21-18 in 34 minutes in the first round on November 14. Three-time World Champion Carolina won 42 rallies in the match to 28 by Busanan. She also won 7 consecutive points during the match to 4 by Busanan. Carolina now leads Busanan 7-0 head to head.

World No 6 Nozomi Okuhara, 23, Japan, the 2017 World Champion, beat World No 30 Soniia Cheah, 25, Malaysia, 23-21, 21-18 in 48 minutes in the first round.