Chinese shuttlers continued their strong performance to advance in five categories at the Malaysia Open on Wednesday.
Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu (R) of China compete during the women's doubles first round match between Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu of China and Go Pei Kee/Low Yeen Yuan of Malaysia at the Malaysia Open 2024 badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jan. 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Cheng Yiheng)
In the men's singles, third-seeded Li Shifeng beat Lee Chia Hao of Chinese Taipei 23-21, 15-21, 21-18 in one hour and 19 minutes, while Weng Hongyang moved past India's Lakshya Sen 21-15, 21-16 to reach the last-16 at the Axiata Arena.
Olympic champion Chen Yufei outmatched Aya Ohori of Japan 21-18, 21-12, while her compatriots He Bingjiao and Wang Zhiyi also advanced to set up a second-round encounter.
Chinese men's doubles pair Ren Xiangyu and He Jiting bested their countrymen Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi 21-19, 21-15.
In the women's doubles, China's Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu, and Li Wenmei and Liu Xuanxuan, both dispatched Malaysian pairs to advance.
Chinese mixed doubles pair Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin, seeded fifth in the tournament, outperformed their compatriots Cheng Xing and Zhang Chi 21-18, 21-16.
There were also defeats for China with Gao Fangjie going down to Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the women's singles and Chen Boyang/Liu Yi falling in the men's doubles.