Shuttler Wong moves into quarter-finals
Singapore shuttler upbeat as he keeps his medal dream alive
He defeated the same opponent in straight sets in the mixed team event.
Yesterday, at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Singapore shuttler Derek Wong made it back to back wins when he once again brushed off the challenge of Jamaica's Gareth Henry, cruising to a 21-7, 21-7 win in the third round of the men's singles tournament at the Commonwealth Games.
The 25-year-old Singaporean is hungry for a medal, and possibly even a place in the final, but his next opponent will surely be a bigger challenge.
World-ranked No. 39 and seeded sixth in Scotland, Wong is on course to face India's K Srikanth, the world No. 30, in the quarter-finals today.
The Indian shuttler faced Sri Lanka's Niluka Karunaratne in his third-round match earlier this morning (Singapore time).
"Most likely, I'll be facing Srikanth in the next round," Wong told The New Paper after his win yesterday.
"I'm not fazed. I've been watching his matches closely the past few days, even on video.
"It will be a tough match. I remember how well he played at the Singapore Open earlier this year."
The 21-year-old Srikanth, seeded fifth, is best known for his triumph at the 2013 Thailand Open, where he upset home favourite Boonsak Ponsana in the final. At the Singapore Open in April, he ran Malaysia's world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei close, going down 21-19, 21-18.
Wong, however, is upbeat about his chances.
"I feel I'm getting better as this competition progresses," he said.
"I'm used to the court now and feeling good physically and mentally.
"It helps that I'm not involved in doubles action; it hasn't been too taxing for me, compared to the other shuttlers."
OUSTED
While Wong continues his march, Singapore's Huang Chao lost to England's Rajiv Ouseph 21-15, 21-15 in his third-round men's singles match.
The Republic's mixed doubles pairs were also in action yesterday.
Chayut Triyachart and Yao Lei progressed to the last eight after victory over New Zealand pair Kevin Dennerly-Minturn and Madeleine Stapleton.
The Singaporeans won the first set 21-14, before the Kiwis retired through to injury.
They will face top seeded English pair Chris Adcock and Gabrielle Adcock in the quarter-finals today.
Terry Hee and Fu Mingtian, however, lost to Scotland's Robert Blair and Imogen Bankier 21-19, 21-11.
Second seeds Danny Chrisnanta and Vanessa Neo beat Australia's Raymond Tam and Gronya Somerville 21-9, 21-10, and will face Malaysia's Chan Peng Soon and Lai Pei Jing next.
At the 2010 Games in New Delhi, Singapore's shuttlers bagged one silver and two bronze medals.
With a bronze medal already in the bag from the mixed team event in Scotland, expectations are high that the team can redeem themselves after a poor outing at the South-east Asia Games in Myanmar last year, when they returned home with just one bronze.
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