WUHAN: World No 1 Ratchanok Intanon's of retaining her women's singles title in the Badminton Asia Championships came to a crashing end when she beaten by Japan's unseeded Sayaka Sato in the second round here Thursday.
Sayaka came back from a set down to stun the Thai 17-21, 21-16, 21-17 in a 63 minute battle. The fourth seeded Ratchanok had come to Wuhan with a smashing run that led to three Superseries titles in three weeks.
Ratchanok won the India Open, followed by the Malaysia Open and then the Singapore Open – which propelled her to the top of the world rankings, taking over from Spain's Carolina Marin.
Last year's runners-up Li Xuerui of China also had a close call in the second before she prevailed over another Japanese Akane Yamaguchi. Xuerui also toiled for 63 minutes in her 21-16, 18-21, 21-19 win.
In the quarter-finals Xuerui will face Taiwan's eighth-seeded Tai Tzu Ying who was also taken the full distance by India's P.V. Sindhu before winning 13-21, 22-20, 21-8 in a 60 minute match.
The mixed doubles in the morning session also saw third seeds Liu Cheng-Bao Yixin of China retire after 12 minutes of play with the score tied at 9-9 against Thailand's Bodin Issara-Savitree Amitrapai.
However, top seeds Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei had no trouble advancing to the quarter-finals with an easy 21-10, 21-12 win over Malaysia's Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing in 33 minutes.
Defending champions and second seeds Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir are also through to the quarter-finals after defeating China's Xu Chen-Ma Jin 21-12, 21-16 while
All-England champions Praveen Jordan-Debby Susanto were also shown the exit when the Indonesians fell in straight sets 17-21, 20-22 to Korea's Kim Gi-jung-Shin Seung-chan in 41 minutes.
In the men's singles played in the morning last year's runners-up Tian Houwei, the fifth seed, brushed aside Hong Kong's Angus Ng Ka Long 21-18, 21-14 while seventh seeded Tommy Sugiarto tamed Thai veteran Boonsak Ponsana 21-17, 21-9 and Taiwan's Wang Tzu Wei made short-work of Indonesian youngster Christie Jonatan in three sets winning 21-9, 15-21, 21-8 in 62 minutes.
SECOND ROUND RESULTS (Morning session)
Men's singles
Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) beat Boonsak Ponsana (Tha) 21-17, 21-9
Tian Houwei (chn) beat Angus Ng Ka Long (Hkg) 21-8, 21-14
Wang Tzu Wei (Tpe) beat Christie Jonatan (Ina) 21-9, 15-21, 21-18
Men's doubles
Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan (Chn) beat Angga Pratama-Ricky Karanda Suwardi (Ina) 21-17, 21-15
Women's singles
Sayaka Sato (Jpn) beat Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) 17-21, 21-16, 21-17
Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe) beat P.V. Sindhu (Ind) 13-21, 22-20, 21-8
Li Xuerui (Chn) beat Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) 21-16, 18-21, 21-19
Mixed doubles
Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) beat Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing (Mas- 21-10, 21-12
Shin Baek-cheol-Chae Yoo-jung (Kor) beat Roland Alexander-Melati Daeva Oktaviani (Ina_ 21-18, 16-21, 21-14
Lu Kai-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) beat Puavaranukroh Dechapol-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) 21-13, 21-1 Ko Sung-hyun-Kim Ha-na (Kor) beat Edi Subaktiar-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (Ina) 21-13, 22-24, 21-15
>mBodin Issara-Savitree Amitrapai (Tha) beat Liu Cheng-Bao Yixin (Chn) 9-9 (Rtd)
Choi Solgyu-Eom Hye-won (Kor) beat Reginald Lee Chu Hel-Chau Hoi Wah 24-22, 21-17
Kim Gi-jung-Shin Seung-chan (Kor) beat Praveen Jordan-Debby Susanto (Ina) 21-17, 22-20
Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir (Ina) beat Xu Chen-Ma Jin (Chn) 21-12, 21-16
