National paddlers off to sizzling start

BIRMINGHAM: Malaysian paddlers put on a dominant display on the first day of the individual event in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at the National Exhibition Centre here today.

Women's singles paddler Ho Ying, who played the most number of matches compared to other Malaysians, enjoyed a clean record of three straight victories in Group 14.

She beat Scotland's Lucy Elliott 11-5, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8; Vanuatu's Tracey Mawa 11-5, 11-0, 11-3, 11-1; and Fiji's Grace Rossi 9-11, 11-4, 11-2, 11-0, 11-4.

Karen Lyne and Tee Ai Xin also enjoyed back-to-back wins over their women's singles opponents in Group 4 and Group 5 respectively.

Lyne defeated Scotland's Rebecca Plaistow 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 and Ghana's Cynthia Gwabi 11-7, 11-7, 11-5, 11-3; while Ai Xin thumped Uganda's Judith Nangonzi 11-4, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 before surviving a seven-set thriller against England's Maria Tsaptsinos 12-10, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 8-11, 6-11, 11-4.

In men's singles, Wong Qi Shen ousted Geoffrey Loi of Papua New Guinea 11-2, 11-1, 11-4, 11-3 and Tyrese Knight of Barbados 13-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 in Group 5.

In other men's singles action, Choong Javen downed Ghana's Emmanuel Asante 11-5, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 and Fiji's Jai Chauhan 11-6, 11-1, 11-2, 11-4 in Group 13; while Leong Chee Feng swept past St Lucia's De Andre Calderon 11-4, 11-9, 11-2, 11-5 and Jamaica's Kane Watson 11-3, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9 in Group 10.

-- BERNAMA