Chen reaches last 16, Marin crashes out at badminton China Masters

SHENZHEN, China - China's ace shuttler Chen Yufei cruised into the women's singles last 16, while Rio Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain suffered an early exit at the first round of the 2023 BWF China Masters here on Wednesday.

Third seed Chen powered into the second round by defeating teammate Gao Fangjie 21-14, 21-13. "We know each other well and I played with the idea of learning from her," said Gao.

The 25-year-old Chen, who is among three candidates for the BWF women's Player of the Year along with world No. 1 An Se-young of South Korea and Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu-ying, said that An was the favorite to win the award. "She performed really well this year. She deserves that."

Another women's singles match saw a fierce battle between Spain's Marin and unseeded Nguyen Thuy Linh from Vietnam. Marin took the first game 21-10 with ease, but Nguyen fought back to win the next two 21-19, 21-15.

"She performed better than me today and made few errors. I feel very frustrated. Maybe I need to work harder in the training," commented the Spanish veteran.

In the men's singles, home favorite Shi Yuqi eliminated India's Lakshya Sen in straight sets. Indonesia's Ginting Anthony Sinisuka, seeded second, overcame Loh Kean Yew of Singapore 21-15, 21-19 to advance.

The mixed doubles top seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong from China enjoyed a comfortable win over Denmark's Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje 21-15, 21-18, while their compatriots Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping bested Indonesian pair Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto and Lisa Ayu Kusumawati 21-17, 21-16.

Chinese shuttlers also showed strong performance in the women's doubles, as Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning, Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu, and Li Wenmei and Liu Xuanxuan all clinched straight-game wins.

In the men's doubles, second seeds Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang of China edged past Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren of Thailand 21-16, 21-16, while Tokyo Olympic champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin of Chinese Taipei fought hard to beat world champions Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae of South Korea 23-21, 19-21, 21-17.