Tai Tzu-ying eases into 2nd round at Malaysia Open

Taipei, June 29 (CNA) Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) advanced to the second round of the woman's singles at the Malaysia Open on Wednesday, after routing Belgian Lianne Tan in two straight games.

Tai, the women's singles silver medalist in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, beat the world No. 36 Tan, 21-13, 21-9, in a match that lasted only 29 minutes at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur.

Tai started the match with an 11-8 lead, but Tan came from behind to tie the score at one stage of the game. Tai, however, unleashed a riveting 8-1 offensive to take the first game 21-13.

In the second game, Tai's offensive was even fiercer, and she pulled away 10-2, before sweeping her opponent 21-9 at the end.

In Tai's encounter with Tan at the All England Open 2022 in March, the Taiwanese player scored a resounding 21-12, 21-14 victory in the first round.

Tai will next take on Kristin Kuuba of Estonia at the Malaysia Open.

The world No. 2 Tai clinched the women's singles title at the Thailand Open in May and at the Indonesia Open earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese shuttler Wang Tzu-wei (王子維) advanced to the round of 16 in the men's singles at the Malaysia Open on Wednesday, with a victory over Guatemalan veteran Kevin Cordon, winning 21-17, 21-7 in two straight games.

The Malaysia Open, one of the five Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 750 events, is being held June 28 to July 3 and carries a total purse of US$675,000.