Japanese women’s team gold defence left shaky after Yamaguchi’s withdrawal

Akane Yamaguchi of Japan hits a return against Zhang Yiman of China in their women痴 singles final match of the Hong Kong Open badminton tournament in Hong Kong on September 17, 2023. (Photo by Peter PARKS / AFP)

JAPAN’s bid to defend the women’s team gold in the Asian Games was dealt a cruel blow after top singles shuttler Akane Yamaguchi was struck down by injury.

World No. 2 Yamaguchi was forced to withdraw from her match against Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying in the quarter-finals between the two countries with the scores at 14-21, 7-5 at the Binjiang Gymnasium yesterday.