OSAKA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Olympic champion Chen Yufei advanced to the women's singles second round of the Japan Open badminton tournament after crushing Denmark's Hojmark Kjaersfeldt here on Wednesday.
Chen, who lost the world championships final to Japan's top seed Akane Yamaguchi last Sunday, beat 25-ranked Kjaersfeldt 21-12, 21-15.
"I felt pretty good," she said. "The first night after the defeat was difficult. I asked myself a lot of questions about what I had done wrong. But after that night, I tried not to think about the final again. Life moves on and let's start again from the beginning."
Chen will now take on Zhang Beiwen of the United States in the second round.
Yamaguchi, winner of the 2019 Japan Open, brushed aside India's Saina Nehwal 21-9, 21-17 to set up a showdown against the 2016 champion He Bingjiao of China.
Second seed Tai Tzu-Ying of Chinese Taipei and third seed An Seyoung of South Korea also advanced with victories over Mia Blichfeldt and Aya Ohori of Japan respectively.
Two-time defending champion Kento Momota of Japan suffered another setback following his second-round exit at the world championships, as he was shocked by Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia, 21-15, 22-20.
In the mixed doubles, top seed Zhi Siwei and Huang Yaqiong, who landed their third world title three days ago, were on the right track to winning their eighth successive tournament by beating Indian duo Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan 21-11, 21-10. ■
