Dynam Cup RD1: Several Home Hopes Through In Yokohama

Tuesday saw the opening day of the Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open in Yokohama, Japan, with several home hopes making it through to the second round.

In total, 12 Japanese players entered the Challenger 10 men’s and Challenger 5 women’s draws, and half of those will feature in the second round of the competition.

Two women took victories on home soil on Tuesday. Kurumi Takahashi and Ayumi Watanabe both knocked out Korean opposition on the opening day. 

Takahashi took on Ain Jun in her first match of the tournament. The pair were level after two games, but from there on, the Japanese woman dropped just six more points, taking both the third and fourth games 11-3 to book her second round place.

She is joined in the last 16 by Watanabe, who downed Jihyun Lee. The World No.402 made the most of home advantage, as she needed less than half an hour to get the job done. Watanabe won 11-9, 11-8, 12-10 to advance to the second round.

Tomotaka Endo made it a hat-trick of victories for Japanese players on the opening day. The men’s World No.155 overcame the challenge of Malaysia’s Duncan Lee, winning in straight games. He will be joined in the second round by two-time defending champion Ryunosuke Tsukue, the No.2 seed for the men’s draw.

Following a late withdrawal from the competition, Ayaka Matsuzawa received a bye through the opening day’s play, joining No.7 seed RIsa Sugimoto in doing so. In total, six Japanese players will feature in the second round on home soil in Yokohama.

Elsewhere, Gigi Yeung defeated Liu Kwai Chi in the all-Macau battle on day one. She lost the opening game 11-4 to her compatriot, but fought back to win the next three games to move through to the last 16. Hong Kong’s Wailok To and the Korean duo of Ha Eun Kim and Sang Eun Park also knocked out 9/16 seeds, with the latter winning the only match to go to five on the opening day.

The second round of the Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open will see the seeded players come into the draw. The last 16 will take place on Wednesday, May 3, and you can keep up to date with daily updates from the tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour’s Twitter and Facebook. 

Men’s First Round Results: Dynam Cup PSA SQ-Cube Open
Andes Ling (HKG) bt Jan Wipperfurth (GER) 3-0: 11-8, 11-2, 11-7
Tomotaka Endo (JPN) bt Duncan Lee (MAS) 3-0: 11-9, 11-1, 11-8
Chung Yat Long (HKG) bt [WC] Yujin Ikeda (JPN) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-3 (25m)
Bryan Lim Tze Kang (MAS) bt Naoki Hayashi (JPN) 3-1: 11-6, 11-4, 2-11, 11-4 (36m)
Ong Sai Hung (MAS) bt Dylan Molinaro (AUS) 3-0: 11-7, 16-14, 11-9 (38m)
Ho Ka Hei (HKG) bt [WC] Shota Yasunari (JPN) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-9 (32m)
Rahul Baitha (IND) bt [WC] Kanta Ito (JPN) 3-1: 11-6, 11-5, 10-12, 11-5
Wailok To (HKG) bt Lam Shing Fung (HKG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-2 (27m)

Men’s Second Round Draw: To Be Played Wednesday, May 3
[1] Addeen Idrakie (MAS) v Andes Ling (HKG)
Tomotaka Endo (JPN) v [8] Harley Lam (HKG)
[5] Wong Chi Him (HKG) v Chung Yat Long (HKG)
Bryan Lim Tze Kang (MAS) v [4] Mohammad Syafiq Kamal (MAS)
[3] Tang Ming Hong (HKG) v Ong Sai Hung (MAS)
Ho Ka Hei (HKG) v [7] Matthew Lai (HKG)
[6] Darren Rahul Pragasam (MAS) v Rahul Baitha (IND)
Wailok To (HKG) v [2] Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN)

Women’s First Round Results: Dynam Cup PSA SQ-Cube Open
Dong Ju Song (KOR) bt Chinatsu Matsui (JPN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 (30m)
Kurumi Takahashi (JPN) bt Ain Jun (KOR) 3-1: 11-5, 3-11, 11-3, 11-3 (29m)
Ha Eun Kim (KOR) bt Ryoko Kadota (JPN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-3 (22m)
Sang Eun Park (KOR) bt Wing Hei Jannis Lam (HKG) 3-2: 5-11, 11-6, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7 (49m)
Ayumi Watanabe (JPN) bt Jihyun Lee (KOR) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 12-10 (27m)
Gigi Yeung (MAC) bt Liu Kwai Chi (MAC) 3-1: 4-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-8 (30m)

Women’s Second Round Draw: To Be Played Wednesday, May 3
[1] Low Wee Wern (MAS) v Dong Ju Song (KOR)
Yura Choe (KOR) v [6] Wai Sze Wing (HKG)
[5] Toby Tse (HKG) v Kurumi Takahashi (JPN)
Ha Eun Kim (KOR) v [3] Ching Hei Fung (HKG)
[4] Leia Lee Zi Fang (SGP) v Sang Eun Park (KOR)
Ayumi Watanabe (JPN) v [8] Mingyeong Heo (KOR)
[7] Risa Sugimoto (JPN) v Gigi Yeung (MAC)
Ayaka Matsuzawa (JPN) v [2] Cheng Nga Ching (HKG)