He is still 23 years old and is ranked 52 in the world. ​​But Chico Aura Wardoyo was able to beat Kento Momota, the first seed of the Men’s Singles category in the Smart Badminton Asia Championships 2022. Wardoyo won over his opponent who was also ranked #2 in a rubber game 17-21, 21-17, 21-7 in the first round that was held in Manila, Philippines, Wednesday (27/4/2022). This is Wardoyo’s first meeting with the badminton player who has been sitting at the top 3 of the world rankings for a long time.
This result brought Wardoyo through to the second round and will meet Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu who previously won 18-21, 21-11, 21-15 over Jordanian representative Bahaedeen Ahmad Alshannik. Lee Cheuk Yiu was no stranger to Chico's opponent. He once defeated Lee Cheuk Yiu in the Badminton Asia Team Championships 2022.
The second seed in the men's singles event, Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, was forced to work hard for three games which resulted in 21-13, 17-21, 21-13 against Thailand's Sitthikom Thammasin. Meanwhile, the All England 2021 champion Lee Zii Jia from Malaysia who was seeded in third place and the 2021 World Champion from Singapore Loh Kean Yew were also able to penetrate the second round.
While in other category, the main seeds have not encountered obstacles. In women's singles, Japan's top seed Akane Yamaguchi needed just 26 minutes to beat India's Aarkashi Kashyap 21-15, 21-9. Likewise with the second seed An Seyoung. However, the Korean badminton star had to compete for three games 21-16, 16-21, 21-16 against Stephanie Widjaja from Indonesia.
The women's singles match on the second day of the Badminton Asia Championships 2022 presents the longest match when fourth seed from India P.V. Sindhu had to fight for 1 hour 17 minutes to beat Taiwan's Pai Yu Po 18-21, 27-25, 21-9. Although Pai’s ranking is far below Sindhu, she has won once in her four meetings with Sindhu. Pai’s victory at at the China Open 2019 reduce her loss to 1-3.
In the women's doubles, strong candidates for champion Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan from China who are also ranked number one in the world qualify for the next round after overcoming Jeong Na Eun/Kim Hye Jeong from Korea with 21-12, 21-19. This step was followed by the second seed from Korea, Lee Sohee/Shin Seungchan. The world number two only needed 20 minutes to beat the Maldivian pair Aminath Nabeeha Abdul Razzaq/Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq 21-5, 21-10.
Unfortunately, one other Korean team, the third seed Kim Soyeong/Kong Heeyong, were immediately eliminated. They were defeated by Indonesian doubles Siti Fadia/Ribka Sugiarto 17-21, 22-20, 11-21.
