Hong Kong Open badminton begins despite city protests

Badminton's Hong Kong Open began Tuesday despite fresh pro-democracy protests across the financial hub with a number of the city's players qualifying for the main draw to delight their home fans.

The badminton showpiece is one of the few high-profile sports events to go ahead in the city during five months of increasingly violent demonstrations.

The BWF Super 500 event, featuring many top players from mainland China, had been thrown into doubt by the police shooting of a demonstrator and a man being set on fire by protesters on Monday.

But there was a large attendance with occasional shouts in Cantonese of "add oil" -- an oft-used sporting chant to urge on players that has been adopted by the pro-democracy movement.

Cheung Ying Mei was up at dawn to battle traffic and the crippled city transport system to get to the Hong Kong Coliseum venue on time, but it was worth it after her 21-10, 20-22, 21-19 win against Indonesia's Lyanny Alessandra Mainaky.

Cheung will face Denmark's Line ...