Japan's Nozoi Okuhara dumps Olympic and world champion Marin
Japan's former world junior champion Nozomi Okuhara's supremacy over reigning Olympics and world champion Carolina Marin continued - this time in the on-going Crown Group Australia Open Superseries in Sydney on Wednesday - and take her head to head count to 5-3 in eight meetings.
The 22-year-old Japanese crushed the Spaniard in straight sets 21-12, 21-19 in 47 minutes to set up an all-Japan second round match against Minatsu Mitani. Mitani came off 21-13, 21-17 winner against Hsu Ya-ching of Chinese Taipei.
Okuhara, Japan's rising star, is making a strong comeback this year after injuries saw her slip down the rankings to her current No 12 from a high No 3 last year. That was the year when Okuhara won the prestigious All-England and te bronze at the Rio Olympics.
That was also the year when Okuhara walked away with the season ending BWF World Superseries Finals - defeating China's Wang Yihan 22-20, 21-18 in the final. Earlier in the year Okuhara won the All-England title in Birmingham with a 21-11, 16-21, 21-19 win in the final.
Okuhara who hails from Nagano, is a known "fighter" who never gives up even when the chips are down. Her win over Marin in Sydney is also sweet revenge for her defeat to the Spaniard in this year's Malaysia Open in Kuching in April.
For Marin it was another miserable outing and, except for the Rio Olympics gold medal, did not win any superseries title last year. The dry run has continued for her this year as Asians continue to inflict painful defeats on Spaniard, who is also the reigning European champion.
Meanwhile, Asian women shuttlers continued their dominance in Sydney with world No 1 and top seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei easing in the second round with a 21-18, 21-11 win over European runners-up Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland.
Tzu Ying plays former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand for a place in the quarter-finals. The Thai strolled past Australian Louisa Ma 21-11, 21-11.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal of India, outplayed Korea's Sung Ji-hyun 21-10, 21-16. The Indian will next take on Malaysia's Soniia Cheah - a 21-14, 21-15 winner over Cheung Meu Hui of Chinese Taipei.
Nehwal's compatriot P.V. Sindhu showed newly crowned Indonesia Open champion Sayaka Sato the exit after a 65 minute battle to prevail 21-17, 14-21, 21-18.
There was a major upset in the mixed doubles when Malaysia's Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing sent newly crowned Indonesia Open winners Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir crashing out of the tournament with a 21-17, 21-16 win over the Rio Olympics champions. It was sweet revenge for the Malaysians who had lost to the Indonesia 21-18, 21-16 in the quarter-finals in the Indonesia Open.
Another Malaysian pair Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See also advanced to the second round - coming back from a set down to win 14-21, 21-19, 21-14 against Japan's Takuro Hoki-Sayaka Hirota in a 67-minute match.
However, former All-England champions Praveen Jordan-Debby Susanto kept Indonesia\s hopes in the mixed doubles alive with a straights 21-11, 21-19 victory of Japanese youngsters Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino.
In the men's singles top seed Son Wan-ho overcame India's P. Kashyap 21-18, 14-21, 21-15 and will face last week's Indonesia Open winner K. Srikanth of India. Srikanth defeated Chinese Taipei qualifier Kan Chao Yu 21-13, 21-16.
It will be repeat of their semi-final clash in the Indonesia Open. Srikanth shocked the Korean with a 21-15, 14-21, 24-22 win in Jakarta.
SELECTED FIRST ROUND RESULTS
Men's singles
Son Wan-ho (Kor) beat P. Kashyap (Ind) 21-18, 14-21, 21-15
Huang Yuxiang (Chn) beat Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) 17-21, 21-18, 21-18
B. Sai Praneeth (Ind) beaat Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) 10-21, 21-12, 21-10
Shi Yuqi (Chn) beat Hsu Jen-hao (Tpe) 21-17, 21-14
Kanta Tsuneyama (Jpn) beat Wang Tzu Wei (Tpe) 23-21, 21-19
Angus Ng Ka Long (Hkg) beat Ajay Jayaram (Ind) 14-21, 21-10, 21-9
Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (den) beat S. Verma (Ind) 21-16, 21-8
Chen Long (Chn) beat Vincent Wong Wing Ki (Hkg) 21-15, 21-13
Anthony Ginting (Ina) beat Jan O Jorgensen (Den) 23-25, 21-12, 14-9 (rtd)
Jonatan Christie (Ina) beat Hu Yun (Hkg) 23-21, 21-18
Lin Dan (Chn) beat Lee Dong Keun (Kor) 21-14, 21-12
Rajiv Ouseph (Eng) beat H. S.Prannoy (Ind) 21-19, 21-13
Tan Houwei (Chn) beat Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Tha) 21-19, 21-17
Lee Hyun II (Kor) beat Anders Antonsen (Den) 19-21, 21-10, 21-19
Zulfadli Zulkifli (Mas) beat Takuma Ueda (Jpn) 21-18, 21-19
Men's Doubles
Takuto Inoue-Yuki Kaneko (Jpn) beat Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (Mas) 116-21, 21-13, 21-13
Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi (Mas) beat Simon Leung Wing Hang-Mitchell Wheller (Aus) 21-6, 21-11
Lu Ching-yao-Yang Po-han (Tpe) beat Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (Mas) 21-13, 21-11
Women's Singles
Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe) beat Kirsty Gilmour (Scot) 21-18, 21-11
Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) beat Louisa Ma (Aus) 21-11,, 21-11
P.V. Sindhu (Ind) beat Sayaka Sato (Jpn) 21-17, 14-21, 21-18
Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) beat Chiang Mei-hui (Tpe) 21-16, 21-9
Soniia Cheah (Mas) beat Cheung Nggan Yi (Hkg) 21-14, 21-15
Saina Nehwal (Ind) beat Sung Ji-hyun (Kor) 21-10, 21-6
Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) beat Carolina Marin (Spn) 21-12, 21-19
Minatsu Mitani (Jpn) beat Hsu Ya-ching (Tpe) 21-13, 21-17
Mixed Doubles
Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing (Mas) beat Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir (Ina) 21-17, 21-16
Praveen Jordan-Debby Susanto (Ina) beat Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (Jpn) 21-11, 21-19
Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See (Mas) beat Takuro Hoki-Sayaka Hirota (Jpn) 14-21, 21-19, 21-14
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