Badminton: Taiwan's Wang Tzu-wei reaches Indonesia Open last 16

Taipei, Nov. 24 (CNA) Taiwan's Wang Tzu-wei (王子維) defeated Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia 21-17, 21-17 Wednesday to power into the last 16 of the men's singles at badminton's Indonesia Open.

The Taiwanese shuttler needed only 40 minutes to dispatch the 2014 World Championship bronze-medalist Sugiarto in the first-round match at the Bali International Convention Center.

World No. 11 Wang is now 2-0 in head-to-head matchups against World No. 24 Sugiarto, and will next face the winner of a first-round match between third-seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark and the unseeded Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand.

During the first-round match, Wang shot off a stunning eight consecutive points in the opening game to establish a comfortable 15-8 lead, before reaching game point at 20-16.

While Sugiarto saved the first point, he lost the second, conceding the opening game to Wang.

The scores were closer in the second game, reaching a 17-17 tie before Wang powered away by reeling in four points on the bounce to end the match.

Last week, Wang crashed out in the first round of the Indonesia Masters after losing against Loh Kean Yew of Singapore over three games.

In a Facebook post Nov. 17, Wang said: "Chin up and prepare for the Super 1000," referring to the Indonesia Open, the second stop in the three-tournament "Indonesia Badminton Festival 2021," and a tournament with a total prize purse of US$850,000.

The festival also includes the Indonesia Masters, which was held Nov. 16-21, and will finish with the BWF World Tour Finals, which starts on Dec. 1.