by Wade Townsend

China’s Wang Manyu beat defeated Kasumi Ishikawa (6-11, 11-8, 11-6, 14-12, 11-7) in the opening round match of the Women’s Singles event.

Ishikawa currently stands at no. 6 on the World Ranking, while Wang is all the way back at no.43.

The Japanese star had a chance to tie the match up at two games apiece. At 12-11 up in the fourth game she was in full control of the rally, but a chop-block from Wang caught the net and dribbled over. Wang won the next two points and took a three-one lead, never looking back.

Wang’s next opponent will be Romania’s Elizabeta Samara, who cruised through the round of 32 with a four-nil win over Singapore’s Yu Mengyu..

Samara started and finished the match completely in control; while only a couple of places seperate them on the World Rankings, today it looked like the Romanian was a class above.

“Last time I played her was in World Championships in Japan and I lost 3-2. Here she was injured, but I was also injured. So against her I have always more chances because I like her game and style. So I knew that I had a chance against her. I was focused for the match, I knew where the ball was coming after my service and her service. I made a video analysis and everything went on my side.” Elizabeta Samara

Meanwhile, Mima Ito guaranteed Japan will represented in the round of 16 with a solid win over Korea’s Yang Haeun (6-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5).

Checkout the full results from this morning’s Women’s Singles matches here.