Akane Yamaguchi of Japan competes en route to beating Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan in the badminton world championships women's singles final in Huelva, Spain, on Dec. 19, 2021. (Kyodo)

       HUELVA, Spain (Kyodo) -- Japan's Akane Yamaguchi won her first women's singles title Sunday at the world badminton championships.

       Ranked third in the world and seeded second at the worlds, Yamaguchi trounced world No. 1 and Tokyo Olympic champion Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan 21-14, 21-11. Yamaguchi became Japan's second women's world champion after Nozomi Okuhara, who won in 2017.

       Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino failed in their bid to become Japan's first mixed-doubles world champs, losing their final to Thailand's second-seeds, Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai, 21-13, 21-14.

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