Zhang Leaps into Top Ten – HSBC Race to Guangzhou: Singles
Beiwen Zhang’s career-best performance – at the Yonex-Sunrise Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta India Open 2018 – has helped her jump 39 places to No.8 in the HSBC Race to Guangzhou.
· DEV SUKUMAR
Zhang memorably beat defending champion and top seed Pusarla V Sindhu in the Women’s Singles final in New Delhi in early February, and the 9,200 points from that victory vaulted her into the top ten. Pusarla also had a profitable outing at her home event, though losing the final – her 7,800 points saw her rocket 20 spots up to No.5 in the rankings.
Four tournaments of the HSBC BWF World Tour were completed in January – the Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters, the Perodua Malaysia Masters, the Daihatsu Indonesia Masters, and the Yonex-Sunrise Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta India Open.
Sitting atop Women’s Singles is Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, winner of the Malaysia Masters and semi-finalist in Indonesia and India. Intanon, with 22,040 points, leads the second-placed Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei) by 5,040 points. Marin has been consistent in the three tournaments she played – reaching the semi-finals in Malaysia and the quarter-finals in Indonesia and India – but still appears some way off the sizzling form she demonstrated in 2015 and 2016.