CHANGZHOU, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn suffered a shock first-round defeat, while China's Wang Zhiyi secured a hard-fought comeback victory at the badminton China Open on Wednesday.
The biggest surprise in the men's singles saw former world champion Vitidsarn beaten 21-13, 8-21, 21-19 by Denmark's Rasmus Gemke.
China's seventh seed Li Shifeng also lost his opening match, falling 12-21, 21-14, 18-21 to Ireland's Nhat Nguyen.
In the women's singles, home favorite Wang battled back to defeat Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour 15-21, 21-5, 21-18 and advance to the round of 16.
China's Han Yue also recovered from a game down to beat Türkiye's Neslihan Yigit 18-21, 21-7, 21-13.
Several Chinese doubles pairs earned comfortable victories. Men's doubles fourth seeds Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang beat India's Hariharan Amsakarunan and Arjun Madathil Ramachandran 21-16, 21-7, while top mixed doubles duo Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping defeated India's Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde 21-9, 21-16.
Two more Chinese mixed doubles pairs reached the last 16. Cheng Xing and Zhang Chi won 21-19, 21-10, while Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin prevailed in three games.
China's women's doubles pair Jia Yifan and Zhang Shuxian suffered an unexpected 24-22, 21-17 defeat to Indonesia's Rachel Allessya Rose and Febi Setianingrum.
The 2026 China Open concludes on Sunday in Changzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. ■
