Day one highlights of the CROWNE PLAZA Northern Marianas Open 2023 started with four qualifying matches before the main draws of the men’s singles and women’s singles began.
There were some big matches in the first round of the men’s singles, most notably between the fifth seed, Takuma Obayashi (JPN) and Jia Heng Jason Teh (SGP). While Obayashi looked convincing in the first game, Teh put up a competitive fight taking the second game to extension. Obayashi held his nerve to win the match 21-16 22-20.
Moreover, it was Yang Yang (TPE) and former world number one, 35-year-old Son Wan Ho (KOR) who stole the show on day one. Their 66 minute, three game match was full of high skill, exceptional defense and a fighting will to win. In the end it was not the finish Ho wanted, slipping on his approach to the net, gifting Yang the win 21-15 10-21 21-18. Yang, ranked at 250 in the world was visibly ecstatic with his win over 152 ranked Ho, punching the air and showing much appreciation and respect to his more experienced opposition.
Elsewhere, Australia’s Nathan Tang dispatched local player, Ian Lubao (NMI) 21-4 21-5. The pace set by Tang was too hot for the Northern Marianas player, who struggled to keep up with the Australian singles specialist. Tang will meet Ting Yen-Chin from Chinese Taipei in the second round of the men’s singles.
Only two Northern Marianas players were to progress through to the second round of the men’s singles. Brian Lubao had a walkover in his match against Ratchaphol Srithong (THA), while Daniel Macario had a convincing win in a local battle of the Micronesian Islands against his opposition from Guam, Chen Yang Hu. Final score 21-13 21-11.
In the final match on day one, Garret Tan (USA) faced Jia Wei Joe Koh from Singapore. Sitting at number 260 and 136 respectively in the world rankings, Tan struggled in the first game to find his rhythm against the higher ranked Koh. In the second game Tan made some changes to his game and was competitive throughout, only to be nudged out of the match 21-9 21-18.
Check out all results from day one of the CROWNE PLAZA Northern Marianas Open 2023 on Tournament Software. All matches on courts one and two are available to watch live and free via Badminton Oceania’s YouTube channel – click here to watch.
Day two starts with mixed doubles at 10am local time (GMT+10). Follow the latest news and find out more on Badminton Oceania’s Facebook page.
Photo: Jia Wei Joel Koh (Singapore)
