NEW DELHI – Tokyo Olympic champion Chen Yufei of China and defending champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan both reached the women's singles second round of the 2026 BWF World Championships here on Tuesday.
Fourth-seeded Chen rallied from one game down to beat Happy Lo Sin-yan of Hong Kong, China 18-21, 21-8, 21-11.
"I made some adjustments after the first game, such as making myself more excited and moving faster on the court," said Chen, who added that winning the title was only one of her goals, while learning and making progress through competitions were also important.
Chen will next face Ukraine's Polina Buhrova, who overcame Prakriti Bharath of the United Arab Emirates 21-13, 20-22, 21-14 to advance.
Second-seeded Yamaguchi eased past Nguyen Thuy Linh of Vietnam 21-12, 21-10, while compatriot Nozomi Okuhara secured a 2-1 win over Ozge Bayrak of Turkiye.
On the men's side, Indonesia's Jonatan Christie defeated Germany's Matthias Kicklitz in straight games, while fifth-seeded Christo Popov of France was stunned by Japan's Kenta Nishimoto 21-17, 21-19.
Women's doubles top seeds Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning of China needed only 35 minutes to beat Pham Thi Dieu Ly and Pham Thi Khanh of Vietnam 21-10, 21-11. Another Chinese pair, Jia Yifan and Zhang Shuxian, also clinched a straight-game win over Lui Lok-lok and Tsang Hiu-yan of Hong Kong, China.
Malaysia's Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, seeded fourth, reached the men's doubles last 16 by defeating Thailand's Peeratchai Sukphun and Pakkapon Teeraratsakul 15-21, 21-11, 21-18.
