LI-NING Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships continued the second day at the Hong Kong Coliseum with 20-year-old upcoming home player Jason Gunawan overcoming world number 11 and finalist of last year Kenta Nishimoto of Japan. The youngster took 49 minutes to clinch a 2-0 victory over the favourite, reaching the MEN’S SINGLES round of 16 for the second consecutive year. Gunawan attributed his success to being patient on the court and hoped to achieve a better result than last year with the support of the fans. In the WOMEN’S SINGLES, qualifier Saloni Samirbhai Mehta, 22, scored an empathetic win over compatriot Lo Sin Yan Happy, the Paris Olympian, following a tough three-game tie, reaching the second round in her Hong Kong Open debut.
After losing in the second round last year, Gunawan has been making steady improvement with more World Tour experience, surging to a highest current world ranking 56. Against Nishimoto, the home player dominated from the initial stage, building a 5-2 lead before snatching the next 8 points to extend his advantage to 13-2. After taking the first game 21-13, Gunawan found it more difficult to handle the second as Nishimoto tried to fight back, taking a 14-12 lead midway through the game but the home player then scored six points in a row to seal a 21-18 win in game two. Gunawan will now meet Christo Popov of France for a berth in the quarterfinals.
“I know I have to play many shots to win a point against Nishimoto and therefore I kept telling myself to be patient during the rally as my coach also gave the same advice,” Gunawan said. “Of course, the support from the fans also helped and I hope I can achieve a better result than last year with their backing. In fact, every time when they cheered ‘add oil’ for me, it could give additional pressure to the opponent and made me more excited.” Gunawan lost in the second round to Rasmus Gemke of Denmark last year.
In the WOMEN’S SINGLES, it was a eye-catching encounter between two Hong Kong, China players, world number 42 Happy Lo and fellow teammate Saloni Samirbhai Mehta, the world number 187. The duo had a 1-all head-to-head before the match and it was local born Mehta drew the first blood with a 21-14 win in the first game. Paris Olympian Lo fought back in the second, leading all the way to level the overall score with a comfortable 21-9 win but unfortunately she failed to continue her momentum as Mehta went ahead 11-4 midway through the third game and sealed the victory with another 21-17 win. Mehta will now meet Aya Ohori of Japan, the fifth seed, for a place in the last eight.
Playing at the Hong Kong Coliseum for the first time with the support from family members and fans, Mehta was deeply impressed by the atmosphere. “I have never gone through a match like this as I know many of them came to support me. I really want to make them proud with strong expectation of doing well in every match.”
Mehta said she and Lo are of similar age and have been competing against each other in the team. “My preparation of the match was more on the mental side and I think Lo has more pressure than me with a higher world ranking and an Olympian status.”
Paris Olympian Lo blamed a poor match for her defeat. “I didn’t play well. There was no other excuses. I must solve problems of my own in order to move on.”
In another match, 19-year-old Leung Ka Wing of Hong Kong, China was beaten in two games 18-21, 14-21 by THET HTAR Thuzar of Myanmar and exited in the first round.
In the MEN’S DOUBLES, qualifiers Hung Kuei Chun and Lui Chun Wai of Hong Kong, China faced a tough battle against Wang Chi Lin and Chiu Hsiang Chieh of Chinese Taipei. Wang and now retired partner Lee Yang were two-time Olympic champions in Tokyo and Paris, leaving him to pair up with a new partner Chiu.
It was the seventh game for the new Taiwan combination as they suffered a slow start against the home pair. Hung and Lui once built up a 16-9 lead but the opponents slowly clawed back as the score locked at 20-20 before the Wang/Chiu pair took a narrow 24-22 win after deuce. The Taiwan pair was in total control of the second, going ahead with a 9-0 lead before taking the game 21-8 to win the tie. They will now face Tan Wee Kiong and Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub Azriyn of Malaysia in the next round.
The victory was the fifth match win for the Taiwan combination and Wang said they were a bit cautious in the first game because of the tail wind. “The opponents were very aggressive and we didn’t want to push too hard because of the wind current. But we made changes when the big points came in order to count the opponents, gradually gaining back the control.
“The Hong Kong, China pair played very well as they seemed like fearing no body. You must be fully focused against any opponent or you will put yourself under difficult condition, just like what we went through in the first game.”
Lui Chun Wai, however, made amends in the following MIXED DOUBLES first round when he and partner Fu Chi Yan beat Wei Chun Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan of Chinese Taipei 2-1. They lost the first game 20-22 after deuce but came from behind to win 21-17, 21-15 for a round of 16 berth.
