by Ian Marshall, Editor
In the concluding series of matches, Doo Hoi Kem, the no.8 seed, accounted for the host nation’s Miu Hirano, the no.5 seed, by the very narrowest of five game decisions (11-5, 9-11, 12-10, 11-6, 15-13); rather less dramatically, Jeon Jihee, the no.9 seed, overcame Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching, the no.4 seed (11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6).
The end result was that Doo Hoi Kem finished next in line to China’s Zhu Yuling, the top seed, being ahead of Miu Hirano and Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut, the no.16 seed; similarly, Jeon Jihee concluded the day one place behind China’s Chen Meng, the no.2 seed. Miu Hirano and Hong Kong’s Lee Ho Ching filled the respective third and fourth positions.
Impressively, Zhu Yuling beat Suthasini Sawettabut, the no.11 seed (11-8, 11-3, 11-2), to end the day on a high note; in a similar manner Chen Meng accounted for Lee Ho Ching, the no.12 seed (11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7).
Second positions contrary to status, it was the same for Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa, the no.3 seed; having experienced defeat earlier in the day at the hands of Singapore’s Feng Tianwei, the no.6 seed (13-11, 11-7, 11-7), the 26 year old recovered to beat Chinese Taipei’s Chen Szu-Yu, the no.10 seed, in straight games (11-9, 11-6, 11-5).
Meanwhile, Feng Tianwei retained her unbeaten record but it was a close call; she needed the full five games to overcome the Korea Republic defender, Suh Hyowon, the no.7 seed (9-11, 11-8, 11-3, 9-11, 11-8). Thus Feng Tianwei topped the group ahead of Kasumi Ishikawa, Chen Su-Yu and Suh Hyowon.
Success for Feng Tianwei and there was success for her colleague Lin Ye; she accounted for Mahshid Ashtari (14-12, 11-6, 11-5) to end the day unbeaten and thus progresses to the preliminary round. In the one remaining contest, India’s Manika Batra overcame Qatar’s Maha Faramarzi (11-3, 11-6, 11-2) to reserve third position behind Mahshid Ashtari. Maha Faramarzi ended the day in fourth position.
In the preliminary round, Lin Ye faces Cheng I-Ching, Miu Hirano opposes Chen Szu-Yu; the matches commence play on Saturday 6th April.
