Top seeds escape, taste defeat

Some top contenders of the last Badminton World Federation Grade 3 International Challenge tournament—the Dove Saipan International 2024—escaped defeat and advanced to the next round, while some tasted it and were eliminated yesterday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

The men’s No. 1 seed, 21-year-old Viren Nettasinghe of Sri Lanka, found his footing yesterday against India’s Aryamann Tandon, after being extended to three sets last Wednesday.

In two swift sets, 21-18, 21-15, Nettasinghe has advanced further in this tourney compared to the previous Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024 last week.

For the women’s No. 2 seed, Chinese Taipei’s Hsiang Ti Lin, she barely escaped the rallying clutches of unseeded Singaporean Khan Insyirah. It was a valiant fight until the end as 23-year-old Insyirah almost toppled the No. 2 seed in three tough sets, 12-21, 21-18, 17-21.

Then the women’s singles champion of the Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024, No. 4 seed Japan’s Kaoru Sugiyama quickly discarded Chinese Taipei’s Yuan Chi Liao, 21-11, 21-8.

Women’s No. 3 seed Sih Yun Lin advanced after beating Malaysia’s Arena Samin, 21-12, 21-19; No. 5 seed Akari Kurihara defeated Shaunna Li, 21-12, 21-13; No. 6 seed, Japan’s Riko Gunji made light work of Yi-Ting Hung, 21-14, 21-13; and No. 8 seed Asuka Takahashi eliminated Yu Wei Peng, 21-17, 21-9.

In the men’s division, No. 3 Justin Hoh had a close call against Jia Wei Koh, but still won, 21-17, 21-19; and No. 7 Yu Huang crushed Hing Long Wong, 21-7, 21-15.

In the upsets, unseeded Ping-Hsien Huang went into super tie-breakers in a thrilling second set against No. 6 seed Shogo Ogawa and won, 21-16, 24-22; unseeded Ryoma Muramoto eliminated men’s No. 8 seed Saran Jamsri in two sets, 21-13, 21-13;

At press time, not all matches are done.

In doubles matches, mixed doubles partners No. 1 seed Hiroki Nishi and Akari Sato smashed their way past Kyung Hoon Park and Yu Jung Kim, 21-15, 21-18; Yu Hsiang Chou and Chu Yun Yang eliminated No. 4 seed Edward Lau and Shaunna Li, 21-13, 21-13; Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara stunned No. 3 seed Kai Wen Cheng and Chiao-Yun Liu, 21-13, 21-18.

The finals are set for Saturday, July 13.