Taiwan's top badminton players quashed their respective competitors on Thursday to glide into the quarterfinals of the 2022 Taipei Open.
World No. 4 in men's singles Chou Tien-chen (???) defeated world No. 70 Kiran George of India 23-21, 16-21, 21-7 in Round 2, in their first-ever encounter, taking the match in 58 minutes to advance to the quarterfinals.
In a tightly contested first game, the score was tied at 21-21 at one point, but Chou gained the next two points to clinch the opener at Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium.
George gained the upper hand early in the second game, reaching the mid-game interval with 11-8, then reeled in the next five consecutive points to widen the score 16-8. From there, the Indian shuttler never looked back and finished the game 21-16.
In the decider, Chou was all fired up, putting on a clinic to pocket 10 consecutive points from 10-6, lifting the score to match point opportunity 20-6. George saved the first match point opportunity but conceded the second.
In the men's doubles, Olympic gold medalists Lee Yang (??) and Wang Chi-lin (???) defeated world No. 81 pair Ishaan Bhatnagar and Sai Pratheek K. of India 21-19, 21-23, 21-9, in 55 minutes.
Meanwhile, world No. 2 Tai Tzu-ying (???) overpowered compatriot Hung En-tzu (???) 21-6, 21-8 in just 20 minutes, in their first-ever encounter.
Tai, an Olympic silver medalist and a three-time Taipei Open champion, will next take on world No. 41 Pai Yu-po (???) of Taiwan in the quarterfinals.
Chou, a three-time Taipei Open title holder, will be pitted against compatriot Chen Chi-ting (???), ranked 157 in the world, while Lee and Yang will come up against Taiwanese Lee Chia-han (???) and Lin Yong-sheng (???) in the quarterfinals.
The 2022 Taipei Open, a Super 300 event that carries a total purse of US$500,000 (NT$14.950 million), is being held for the 39th time, with the participation of 92 players from 26 countries.
The tournament was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel