Taiwan win Uber, Thomas Cup openers

EYES ON THE PRIZE:
Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said

• By Benjamin Bowser / Staff writer

Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China.

World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title.

Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory in the Uber Cup with a win of their own, as Go Pei Kee and Teoh Mei Xing defeated the world No. 24 Taiwanese duo of Hsu Ya-ching and Lin Wan-ching 21-19, 21-17 in 44 minutes.

That was to be Malaysia’s only win of the day, as 26-year-old world No. 27 Wen Chi-hsu came back from an early loss to beat Karupathevan Letshanaa 13-21, 21-17, 21-16 in 57 minutes.

Taiwan’s Hu Ling-fang and Teng Chun-hsun kept up the heat, dominating Ho Lo Ee and Tan Zhing Yi 21-17, 21-11 in 32 minutes, while Taiwan’s world No. 31 Sung Shuo-yun wrapped up the day with a 21-17, 22-20 win over Wong Ling Ching.

Taiwan are tied in Group B with Thailand, who dominated Australia 5-0.

Last year’s runners-up China lead Group A, having beaten Singapore 5-0 on Friday and Canada 5-0 yesterday, while India yesterday added to Singapore’s woes, defeating them 4-1, after beating Canada 4-1 a day earlier.

In Group C, Japan and Indonesia on Friday each won their first rounds 5-0 against Uganda and Hong Kong respectively.

Reigning champions South Korea on Friday opened up their Uber Cup campaign in Group D with a 5-0 victory over Mexico, while Denmark dominated the US 5-0. South Korea were last night to play the US, while Denmark were to face Mexico.

In the Thomas Cup, Taiwanese world No. 14 Chou gave the men an early lead over Germany, beating Schaefer 21-13, 16-21, 21-12 in 57 minutes.

Tokyo Olympic men’s doubles champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin followed with a decisive 21-13, 21-19 victory over Bjarne Geiss and Jan Colin Voelker, while world No. 17 Lin Chun-yi came back from a first-game loss to rock Fabian Roth 19-20, 22-20, 21-18.

Daniel Hess and Marvin Seidel gave Germany their first win, beating Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan 21-19, 22-24 in 40 minutes, while world No. 23 Wang Tzu-wei defeated Matthias Kicklitz 16-21, 21-13, 21-17.

The BWF Web site on Thursday declared Taiwan the team to watch in the Thomas Cup, saying that they had a well-rounded lineup led by Chou and backed up by Wang Tzu-wei and Lin Chun-yi in singles, with choice players in doubles .

Chou told the site that Taiwan’s lineup gives them a chance to make it to the semi-finals this year.

“We’ve never been in the semifinals, so we really want to win,” the site quoted him as saying. “For me, I feel more relaxed because my teammates can back me. I think I can play much better than at other tournaments. I’m really happy to play here.”

Taiwan are tied in Group B with Japan, who yesterday dominated the Czech Republic 5-0.

South Korea lead Group A with two points, having blanked Canada and Australia 5-0 on Friday and yesterday respectively. China on Friday beat Australia 5-0, and were last night to play Canada.

In Group C, last year’s winners India and runners-up Indonesia are tied 1-1, after on Friday beating Thailand 4-1 and England 5-0 respectively.

In Group D, Denmark and Malaysia have each racked up a point, after blanking Algeria and Hong Kong 5-0 respectively on the first day of the tournament. Last night, Denmark blanketed Hong Kong 5-0, while Malaysia were leading Algeria 4-0.