TOKYO: Reigning women’s champion and top seed Akane Yamaguchi cruised through her opening game at the world badminton championships on Tuesday, while men’s number one Viktor Axelsen continued his smooth progress.

Japan’s Yamaguchi beat Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 21-12, 21-15 in front of an appreciative home crowd in Tokyo to kick off her hunt for a second straight world title.

Spain’s Carolina Marin, who is aiming to win a record fourth world title in Tokyo, got her campaign off to a steady start with a 21-16, 21-14 win over Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang.

Former world number one Marin endured a horror 2021, missing both the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics and the world championships in her hometown of Huelva after suffering an ACL injury.

Marin returned to action in April this year and is seeded number five for the competition.

There were also first-round wins for South Korean number three seed An Se-young — 21-18, 21-10 over Vietnam’s Thuy Linh Nguyen — and India’s Saina Nehwal, who beat Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi 21-19, 21-9.

On the men’s side, Denmark’s Axelsen was pushed hard in the first game of his second-round match against Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands before hitting his stride in a 21-19, 21-10 win.

Axelsen has lost only one match on tour this season and he was again ruthless in putting away Caljouw.

Men’s number two seed Kento Momota will play India’s HS Prannoy on Wednesday.

China’s Shi Yuqi, who is returning from a 10-month ban from the Chinese Badminton Association, continued his comeback with a 21-13, 21-16 second-round win over Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke.

Shi, a world finalist in 2018, retired during a 2021 match against Momota and was banned by the Chinese Badminton Association for making “inappropriate comments” about his withdrawal.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2022