Badminton French Open: Loh Kean Yew and Viktor Axelsen advance to quarter-finals
The 2021 badminton world champion from Singapore needed just 40 minutes to beat Japan's Tsuneyama Kanta in straight games in Paris. World number one Viktor Axelsen and Yamaguchi Akane also move on.
Badminton
Loh Kean Yew continued his recent good form with a 21-14, 21-11 win over Japan's Tsuneyama Kanta in the French Open Round-of-16 on Thursday (27 October).
The Singaporean badminton star, who defeated reigning Olympic and world champion Viktor Axelsen before falling to Lee Zii Jia in the Denmark Open semis last week, needed just 17 mins to win the first game in Paris.
Tsuneyama rallied to take an early lead in a more hard-fought second, but Loh's superior speed and shot variety eventually shone through as he levelled the game at 7-7 before wrapping up the match in straight sets.
Next up for the 2021 world champion is a quarter-final thriller against top seeded Axelsen who ousted Thailand's Sitthikom Thammasin 21-19, 21-17.
Women's singles top seed Yamaguchi Akane (Japan) had to work hard to beat China's Zhi Yi Wang 14-21, 21-6, 21-16.
More to follow.
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