NANJING, China, July 31-- Title favourites Tai Tsu Ying of Chinese Taipei and Kento Momota of Japan here on Tuesday opened their 2018 BWF World Championships campaign with easy wins, as world No.1 Tai claimed a 21-10, 21-16 victory over Australia's Chen Hsuan Yu in women's singles actions and Momota outclassed Russia's Artem Pochtarov 21-13, 21-12 in men's. All the seeded women's singles players received a bye in the first round and started from the second. Tai was relatively unchallenged in her first game of the tournament, storming to a win after the scores had initially been tied at 4-4. But Chen put up a fight in the second game, forcing Tai into some errors and at one stage enjoying a three-point lead. But after coming back to 11-11, the Asian champion eventually pulled clear again and nailed the win in 31 minutes. "The match was just like I had imagined. I'm satisfied with my overall performance," the 24-year-old said. Tai, who had swept five titles from six events this year, will take on the United States' Zhang Beiwen in the third round, who managed a 13-21, 21-18, 21-15 comeback win over Chloe Birch of England. China's He Bingjiao, seeded 6th, also clinched a spot in the round of 16 after beating Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong in two straight games 21-11, 21-17. The 2017 Youth Olympic champion faced a strong fightback in the second game after an easy win in the first, and the two players traded the lead until 18-17, when He won three consecutive points to wrap up the victory. |