GLASGOW: Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi suffered a shock exit from the World Badminton Championships in Glasgow as Chinese youngster Chen Yufei defeated the top seed in the third round on Thursday.
The 19-year-old world junior champion, seeded ninth, claimed the best win of her career 21-18, 21-19 in 52 minutes.
“I am so excited,” she said. “This was one of my big goals this year, to beat Akane.”
Yamaguchi admitted she had been well below her best, saying: “I am very sad. I made too many mistakes.”
South Korea’s Son Wan Ho, the top seed in the men’s singles, needed three games before finally knocking out Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 21-14, 17-21, 21-13 in 62 minutes.
Meanwhile, defending champions Chen Long and Carolina Marin, who are also the 2016 Olympic gold medallists, both cruised through to the quarter-finals.
China’s Chen beat India’s Ajay Jayaram 21-11 21-10 and Marin ousted the final unseeded player in the women’s event, Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark 21-7 21-11. --AFP