Former world No.1 Wang Shixian of China avoided an early exit in the opening round of the China Masters, taking a hard-fought victory over Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in a match of 72 minutes in Changzhou on Wednesday.
Currently world No. 2 Wang took the first game 21-13 but Tai turned the table on her opponent to take the second 21-19. In the decisive game, Wang was again at the brink of losing the match when she was trailing 17-20. She didn't give up and made a comeback, saving three match points to make it 20-20.
Tai, world No. 19, then unfolded her high speed of play and gained seven match points after 20-20. However, the experienced Wang, who was obviously not in the form, managed to save all of them.
After the two shuttlers levelled again at 29-29, Wang reinforced her dominance by taking the final point to secure the victory 30-29.
"Today I'm lucky, I was trailing behind all the way but finally took the match," said the 21-year-old Wang, "When I was 17-20 down in the final game, I felt I almost lost the match."
As the Asian Games and BWF Super Series Finals champion, Wang suffered a downturn after this year's Sudirman Cup, in which she was defeated by Juliane Schenk of Germany.
In the following London world championships, Wang still failed to find back her ryhthm and was knocked out of the top four.
"I am not in my form now, my mindset is not as good as before. I am not in the advantage no matter whom I play with, so I have to try my best in every single match," added Wang.
Wang also said the downturn will be helpful to her future. "The more I experienced now, the more confident I will be in the future big events."
Wang will face a potential semifinal against another former world No.1 Wang Xin while Chinese Taipei's Cheng Shao Chieh, who reached last month's World Championships final, is a potential quarterfinal opponent.
