Defending champion and world No2 Zhou Mi won through her first match at the US$50,000 KLRC New Zealand Badminton Open with expected ease and showed no effects of the flu she had been frustrated by over the past week.
Mi, 29 needs to win the title again to take back the top spot in the world and started with an 18 minute 21-5 21-15 victory over Southland’s Anna Rankin in the first round. In the second round she will play Malaysian Mudukasan Sutheaswari.
Also making short work of things was men’s top seed Sariul Ayob(Malaysia) who accounted for Auckland’s Brent Miller in straight games to set up a quarterfinal clash with New Zealand’s best John Moody who beat local Delius Tang. Moody and Ayob have clashed three times with the Malaysian winning on each occasion.
The only upset of sorts in the second round men’s singles was Kiwi eighth seed, Ethan Haggo losing to Chinese-born Aucklander, Hu He Maoni 21-19 in the third game. Meanwhile men’s third, fourth and fifth seeds Tsuen Seng Lee(Malaysia), Yu Hsin Hsieh(Taipei) and Tommy Sugiarto(Indonesia) respectively all won through to the quarterfinals over Kiwi opponents in straight games.
In women’s singles top New Zealand prospect Jessica Jonggowisastro beat Counties Manukau player Michelle Chan and will now play North Harbour’s Melissa Leviana in the quarters. Leviana beat Mexico’s Deyanira Angulo Chinas in straight games.
Former world champs bronze medalist, Dan Shirley had his return to top level badminton in mixed short-lived as he and Olympian Renee Flavell lost to the top seeds in the first round, Hung Ling Chen and Chia Chi Chou of Taipei.
The match was effectively the No1 team against the third best combination, but because of a lack of playing activity Shirley had lost his ranking and he and Flavell were unseeded. If the match had been later in the tournament a couple of competitive contests under the belt of Shirley could have done the former top-10 player a world of good and changed the 21-14 21-12 scoreline.
Last Modified on 13/11/2008 07:51