Sindhu crashes out, Momota and Chen Long go through in China Open

Fifth seed Pusarla V. Sindhu of India was edged out by Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong in the second round while Japan's Kento Momota and China's Chen Long stormed into last eight in the 2019 Badminton China Open here on Thursday.

Chen Long (China) reacts after his China Open Round of 16 game against Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei in Changzhou, China on Sep 19, 2019. [Photo: IC]

Newly-crowned world champion Sindhu won the first set with ease 21-12, but Chochuwong fought back to take the second 21-13, and reversed the tide for the upset by winning a tight third set 21-19.

"I just control my shots to make no mistakes," said unseeded Chochuwong, who especially mentioned the wind in the gymnasium. "Yesterday I played on the same court and that helped a lot. Players who can handle the wind can win."

Chinese ace Chen Yufei fought a tough 71-minute battle to move past South Korean An See-young 20-22, 21-17, 21-15.

Third seed Chen described her young rival as "stable" and "making few errors". Four months ago in Nanning, China, An surprised the world by beating Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei at Sudirman Cup.

In Thursday's match, second-seeded Tai ousted Japan's Aya Ohori 21-19, 21-14 to reach quarterfinals.

In the men's singles, world No. 1 Momota of Japan took 36 minutes to breeze past Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto 21-10, 21-11.

"It was not that easy. He was a powerful player," said Momota. "I feel in good condition now and I will prepare for tomorrow's match."

The top seed will face compatriot Kanta Tsuneyama in the quarterfinals, who beat Malaysia's Liew Daren 21-12, 21-19.

China's Olympic champion Chen breezed past Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei 21-10, 21-17, while his teammate Huang Yuxiang and Lu Guangzu were knocked out by second seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei and Sai Praneeth B. of India respectively.