PETALING JAYA: Kodai Naraoka and Kanta Tsuneyama have made the most of their easy draw to storm into the third round where several exciting clashes are on the cards at the World Championships in Copenhagen today.
Naraoka, the fourth seed, defeated Toma Junior Popov of France 21-12, 21-16 in the second round yesterday while Tsuneyama overcame Danylo Boskiuk of Ukraine 22-20, 21-15 to advance.
The untested Naraoka, whose superb defence and stamina have seen his rise in the world’s top five this year, practically ran Popov down with ease.
“I was patient and just waited for him (Popov) to get tired to win the match. This tournament is important for me like other events, so I will do my best,” said Naraoka.
Tsuneyama has also benefitted from the absence of second seed Anthony Ginting whom the Japanese shuttler was supposed to meet in the second round. Ginting withdrew after his mother passed away several days before the world meet.
Meanwhile, defending champion and top seed Viktor Axelsen had set up a cracking third round clash against Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan today.
They played each other in the semi-finals in Tokyo last year where Axelsen secured a straight-game victory and the Dane is also in top form in Copenhagen.
In the second round matches played on Tuesday, Axelsen thrashed Christo Popov 21-6, 21-8 while Tien Chen also had an equally impressive 21-8, 21-12 win.
Another Taiwan shuttler Wang Tze-wei also made a strong impact as he defeated China’s Lu Guangzu 21-16, 18-21, 21-19 to send a warning to Guangzu’s compatriot and All England champion Li Shifeng.
Guangzu threatened to deny Tze-wei when he bounced back from 16-9 down to draw level but the latter held on to secure victory.
“The last time I lost to him in the Korean Open, so this time I wanted to fix my mistakes,” said Tzu-wei.
“Back then I had a 10-2 lead, and yet I lost to him. This time I stayed focused and did not let him attack.”
Last year’s runner-up Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand will also be involved in a tough clash against Lakshya Sen of India today while 2021 world champion Loh Ken Yew will face off with H.S. Prannoy of India in explosive third-round clashes today.
