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Chinese Shuttlers Show Depth in Badminton Worlds
Chen Yu produced a surprise by eliminating world number 10 Richard Vaughan of Wales as Chinese shuttlers showed their dominance on the opening day of the world badminton championships Tuesday in Seville.
The unseeded Chen, who is competing in the world championships for the first time, scored a straight-set victory over Vaughan 15- 10, 15-7, setting up a second round clash with Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia, who beat Arturo Ruiz of Spain 15-7, 15-8.
"I feel in a good form today," Chen said after the match. "I don't think it's a surprise, but I will not set too high a goal. I just want to play my best."
Chen's compatriot Xia Xuanze, winner of last year's All England championships, survived a second-set scare before defeating Vladislav Druzchenko of Ukraine 15-10, 15-17, 15-10.
The ninth seed failed to get a chance in Chinese team in winning their fourth successive Sudirman Cup mixed team champion last week.
Chinese head coach Li Yongbo said: "If Druzchenko was a little more patient in the third set, he could have beaten Xia."
Men's world number one Roslin Hashim of Malaysia, who claimed top place in the world rankings right before the champioships, entered the second round with a 17-15, 15-5 win over Shyam Abhinn Gupta of India.
World number 14 Hendrawn, who help Indonesia to lift the Thomas Cup champion last year, also reached the second round with a win over Kazuhiro Shimogami of Japan 15-4, 13-15, 15-8.
Hidayat Taufik of Indonesia, ranked third in the world, defeated Dicky Palyama of Netherlands 15-8, 15-4 in the other game.
China's Olympic women's singles champion Gong Zhichao stormed into the second round by easing past Thailand's Sujitra Ekmongkolpaisarn 11-3, 11-1 in just 26 minutes.
Gong, also two-time All England champion, is desperately hoping to add the world women's singles title to her Olympic champion won in Sydney. She has won all the major international competitions but the world championships. After her former teammate and two- time world champion Ye Zhaoying retired late last year, she is the hottest of the hot favorites of winning the women's title.
She crushed defending champion and world number one Camilla Martin of Denmark 11-1, 11-0 when China beat Denmark in the Sudirman Cup semifinal last Friday.
Gong's fellow Chinese Dai Yun, seeded 14th, humiliated Maja Pohar of Slovenia 11-0, 11-0 while Gong Ruina routed Katarzyna Krasowska of Poland 11-2, 11-3.
Top seeded Martin also advanced with a win over Jun Jae Youn of South Korea 11-4, 11-6.
In the mixed doubles, world top pair Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen of Denmark took 22 minutes to brush aside A Rosman Razak and Fong Chen Yen of Malaysia 15-2, 15-3.
Their fellow Danes and second seed Jens Eriksen/Mette Schjoldager made short work of Russia's Alexandr Russkikh/ Anastasia Russkikh 15-0, 15-3 while Olympic champion Zhang Jun/Gao Ling of China beat Konstantin Dobrev/Petya Nedeltcheva of Bulgaria 15-2, 15-7.
Fourth seeded Bambang Suprianto and Minarti Timur of Indonesia also reached the second round with a comfortable victory over P. Jaseel Ismail and Madhumita Bisht of India 15-4, 15-8.
Chinese tandem Liu Yong/Cheng Jiao, seeded sixth, beat Keita Masuda/Seiko Yamada of Japan 15-9, 15-5 to enter the final 32, joined by compatriots Chen Qiqiu/Chen Lin, who defeated a hard- hitting Danish pair Lars Paashke/Pernille Harder of Denmark 10-15, 15-4, 17-14 in 65 minutes.
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