Tai Tzu-ying storms into 3rd round at BWF World Championships

Taipei, Aug. 24 (CNA) Taiwan's top-ranked female badminton player Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) stormed into the third round of the women's singles at BWF World Championships in Japan on Wednesday with a 21-9, 21-12 win over Slovakia's Martina Repiská.

Tai, the tournament's second seed and the winner of last month's Super 300 Taipei Open, cruised past World No. 80 Repiská in just 26 minutes.

Tai will next face World No. 79 Vu Thi Trang of Vietnam for a place in the quarterfinals, as she looks to improve on her second-place finish at last year's BWF World Championships in Huelva, Spain.

After winning back-to-back titles at the Super 500 Thailand Open in May and Super 100 Indonesia Open in June, Tai is considered one of the favorites at the World Championships.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese Olympic gold medalists Lee Yang (李洋) and Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) booked their slot in the third round of the men's doubles by defeating compatriots Lee Jhe-huei (李哲輝) and Yang Po-hsuan (楊博軒) 21-18, 15-21, 21-13 in a total of 48 minutes.

The win also extended World No. 4 and tournament fourth seeds Lee Yang and Wang's head-to-head advantage over the World No. 40 duo of Lee Jhe-huei and Yang to 3-0.

Lee Yang and Wang will next face 10th seeds Choi Sol Gyu and Seo Seung Jae of South Korea for a ticket to the quarterfinals.

The BWF World Championships 2022 is being held Aug. 22-28 at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.