Chen Yufei hits a return during her first round women's singles win against Gao Fangjie at the 2023 BWF China Masters in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 22, 2023. (Xinhua/Peng Zhigang)
China's top shuttler Chen Yufei advanced to the last 16 of the women's singles, while Spanish veteran Carolina Marin was knocked out after losing to Vietnam's Nguyen Thuy Linh in the 2023 BWF China Masters.
SHENZHEN, China, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's ace shuttler Chen Yufei cruised into the women's singles last 16, while 2016 Rio Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain suffered an early exit in the first round of the 2023 BWF China Masters here on Wednesday.
Third seed Chen powered into the second round by defeating compatriot Gao Fangjie 21-14, 21-13. "We know each other well and I played with the idea of learning from her," said Gao.
25-year-old Chen, who is among three candidates for the BWF Women's Player of the Year, along with world No. 1 An Se-young of South Korea and Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu-ying, said that An was the favorite to win the award. "She performed really well this year. She deserves that."
Another women's singles match saw a fierce battle between Spain's Marin and unseeded Nguyen Thuy Linh of Vietnam. Marin took the first game 21-10 with ease, but Nguyen fought back to win the next two 21-19, 21-15.
"She performed better than me today and made few errors. I feel very frustrated. Maybe I need to work harder in training," rued Marin.
Shi Yuqi hits a return during his men's singles first round win against Lakshya Sen of India. (Xinhua/Peng Zhigang)
In the men's singles, home favorite Shi Yuqi eliminated India's Lakshya Sen in straight sets. Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, seeded second, overcame Loh Kean Yew of Singapore 21-15, 21-19 to advance.
Mixed doubles top seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China enjoyed a comfortable win over Denmark's Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje 21-15, 21-18, while their compatriots Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping bested Indonesian pair Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto and Lisa Ayu Kusumawati 21-17, 21-16.
Chinese shuttlers also showed well in the women's doubles, as Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning, Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu, and Li Wenmei and Liu Xuanxuan all clinched straight-game wins.
In the men's doubles, second seeds Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang of China edged past Thailand's Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren 21-16, 21-16, while Tokyo Olympic champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin of Chinese Taipei fought hard to beat world champions Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae of South Korea 23-21, 19-21, 21-17. ■
