Badminton: Kiwi makes top seed work

Top seed Hsu Yen Hao from Taiwan highlights a quality field at the New Zealand Badminton Open. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Taiwanese badminton star says plucky local Chance Cheng `very fast and very tough'.

The headline acts are having few issues at the New Zealand Badminton Open, with the top-ranked players safely negotiating their way into today's quarter-finals at the North Shore Events Centre.

Men's top seed Hsu Jen Hao (Taiwan) was made to work hard for a win against his second Kiwi in consecutive rounds, dispatching plucky Aucklander Chance Cheng in straight games, winning 21-15 21-14.

"I am feeling very tired. This is my fourth tournament in a row so for me it is making sure I am feeling good physically, not so much my play on court," Hsu said.

"This was a tough match, my opponent was very fast and very tough today."

Hsu was not surprised by the effort of the unheralded Kiwi though, having done his homework.

"I saw Chance play yesterday and knew that his net play would be good and that he is very fast, so I was ready for long rallies today, he was a very good opponent."

Cheng has been back in the game for only a year after taking some time out. The Shanghai-born expat came to New Zealand when he was 13 and was in national squads for several years before taking a break from the game. On the evidence of yesterday's effort he will soon be threatening national representation again.

Remarkably Hsu will play a New Zealander for the third consecutive game, with 19-year-old Dylan Soedjasa upsetting more fancied Chun Quan Chong (Malaysia) in a 21-11 22-20 thriller to reach the third round, an amazing feat for a player juggling university studies in his first year out of the junior ranks.

Former world No 1 Le Hyun Il (Korea) may well be the biggest threat to Hsu in taking out the SkyCity-sponsored tournament. A semifinalist at the London Olympics, Le Hyun, although unseeded, showed his class in beating Australian Cham Chen in straight games.

The presence of the silky left hander, one of the best players to come to NZ, is a huge bonus for the tournament and a treat for fans.

It proved a good day for the Kiwis as well, with Joe Wu winning the all-New Zealand round-two singles match against Nicco Tagle, the eighth seed proving too experienced for the 17-year-old.

The top seeds in the mixed doubles, New Zealand's Oliver and Susannah Leydon-Davis, were impressive in their opening match, defeating Chun-Bong Wong and Jacinta Joe (Australia) 21-5, 21-18.

The biggest casualty for the Kiwis was the loss of fourth seed Michelle Chan, beaten in three games by Malaysia's Sannatasah Saniru.

The quarter-finals in all events start from 5.30pm today.