China's Shi, Chen into BWF French Open quarterfinals

PARIS -- Badminton stars Shi Yuqi and Chen Long booked quarterfinal spots after conquering respective opponents, and China saw two of five women's shuttlers into singles last eight at the 2018 BWF French Open here on Thursday.

No 2 seed Shi led 11-4 at the changeover before savoring a 21-7 victory in the first game against Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong, China. Ng regained a little momentum at the start of the second game, before Shi ran away with 21-10.

Shi will take on South Korean Son Wan Ho, who got past Kenta Nishimoto of Japan 21-14, 21-18.

"I headed up more quickly into the match. He didn't play that well compared with our previous duels and failed to show his character today," Shi told Xinhua.

"It was a bit tense before the changeover in the second game. He thought of some changes then, but I tried my best to compete against him," he added.

Olympic champion Chen Long accounted for Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark 21-10, 21-14.

"I played better than yesterday because my rival is stronger. I was more concentrated today," said Chen.

Gao Fangjie had knocked world No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei out of the China Open first round in straight games in September, but it went the other way this time as Tai outclassed Gao 21-12, 21-17.

Gao expressed dissatisfaction with her performance, saying, "I didn't display all things today."

"I can find my weakness when competing against her every time. She has a lot of things to learn for me," Gao admitted.

Another young shuttler Chen Xiaoxin also ended her trip in Paris after losing to No 6 seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in straight games.

Chen built a 5-0 lead at the start, before her experienced opponent came back into the duel through consecutive net balls. After 17-all, Intanon set the victorious tone with three straight points before triumphing the first game 21-18.

The second game ran in a similar manner, but it was Chen that shrugged off a sluggish start and just trailed at 12-14. However, Intanon pulled away again for a 21-15 victory.

Cai Yanyan was beaten by second-seeded Japanese star Akane Yamaguchi 21-14, 21-14.

Fourth-seeded Chen Yufei overtook Sayaka Takahashi of Japan 21-19, 21-13. Her compatirot He Bingjiao, the No 7 seed, also secured a quarterfinal berth in straight games, marching past Sung Ji Hyun of South Korea 21-12, 21-19.

One of four Chinese pairs made into last eight, as Han Chengkai and Zhou Haodong got past Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh of Malaysia 21-19, 21-16.

Reigning world champions Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen lost to Liao Min Chun/Su Ching Heng of Chinese Taipei 21-19, 21-17. He Jiting/Tan Qiang and Liu Cheng/Zhang Nan stopped their quest after falling to two Indian pairs.

Li Wenmei and Zheng Yu, the only Chinese women's pairs remaining in contention, surrendered their win in the first game before losing to Olympic champions Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi from Japan 23-25, 21-17, 21-15.

Mixed doubles top two seeds Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong and Wang Yilyu/Huang Dongping, both from China, met little resistance en route to the quarterfinals.

Zheng and Huang wasted 32 minutes to overcome Chris Adcock and Gabrielle Adcock of England 21-12, 21-11. The Wang/Huang pair powered past Indonesian duo of Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti 21-14, 21-12.