Taiwan's badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying (???) cruised into the quarterfinals of the women's singles at the Malaysia Open on Thursday, after a decisive win over Kristin Kuuba of Estonia in straight games.
The world No. 2 and second-seeded Tai crushed world No. 51 Kuuba 21-11, 21-9 in a Round 2 match that lasted about 30 minutes, at the Super 750 tournament at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur.
In the opener, Tai shot ahead 11-8 to the mid-game interval, and Kuuba remained starved until after the break, when she scored one point. After that, however, the Taiwanese reeled in five consecutive points, bounding to 16-9.
Kuuba rallied to gain two more points, but Tai soon charged ahead again, racking up five consecutive points to win the opening game.
In the second game, Tai took a comfortable early lead and extended it to 17-9, then cleaned up with four consecutive points to take the match.
Tai will next come up against a formidable competitor, world No. 7 Pusarla V. Sindhu of India, for a place in the semifinals.
Tai has been on a roll since the Thailand Open, which she won in May in a comeback from the German Open in mid-March, when she was knocked out of the final 16. In June, she snagged her second title of the year at the Indonesian Open.
Meanwhile, world No. 4 Chou Tien-chen (???) of Taiwan was knocked out of the Malaysia Open on Thursday, falling to world No. 21 H.S. Prannoy 15-21, 7-21, in Round 2 of the men's singles.
Another Taiwanese player, world No. 16 Wang Tzu-wei (???), was also knocked out, after losing to world No. 27 Lu Guangzu (???) of China 21-18, 21-11.
In the men's doubles, Taiwanese Olympic gold medalists Lee Yang (??) and Wang Chi-lin (???) crashed out of the Malaysia Open after a 17-21, 18-21 drubbing at the hands of Malaysian Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi.
The Malaysia Open, being held June 28 to July 3, carries a total purse of US$675,000 (NT$20.11 million).
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel