Defending champion Lee Chong Wei and fourth seed Lin Dan set up a repeat Men’s Singles semi-final clash at the Badminton Asia Championships 2017 in Wuhan yesterday.
Lee beat Lin at the same stage in last year’s event on his way to the title, but Lin will have his tail up as he beat the Malaysian in their last clash at the Celcom Axiata Malaysia Open. In the quarter-finals today, Lee beat Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Jen Hao 21-18 21-13 while Lin overcame another Chinese Taipei player, Chou Tien Chen, 21-14 21-12.
The other half will feature an all-China affair as sixth seed Shi Yuqi breezed past Korea’s Son Wan Ho 21-16 21-15 and will take on senior compatriot Chen Long, who had it just as easy in a 21-17 21-13 result over Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long.
It was a rare bad day for young doubles star Chen Qingchen as she fell in both her matches. China’s Chen and Zheng Siwei crashed out in straight games of their Mixed Doubles quarter-final to Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai 21-19 21-17. Chen and Jia Yifan suffered a similar fate in their Women’s Doubles quarter-final to Korea’s Kim Hye Rin/Yoo Hae Won, 21-16 21-16.
In Women’s Singles, Korean qualifier Lee Jang Mi continued her remarkable run as she beat Thailand’s Nitchaon Jindapol 21-19 21-9 to book a semi-final against top seed Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei).
China’s He Bingjiao slogged her way past India’s Pusarla V Sindhu after saving match point, 15-21 21-14 24-22; her semi-final opponent will be Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi.
Women’s Doubles saw a couple of close matches. Yonex All England champions Chang Ye Na/Lee So Hee held off a late charge from China’s Luo Ying/Luo Yu to win a 93-minute encounter, 21-13 18-21 24-22. China’s Huang Dongping/Li Yinhui also won a close battle, over Korea’s Jung Kyung Eun/Shin Seung Chan, 20-22 21-13 21-18.
Three Chinese pairs – Chai Biao/Hong Wei, Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen and Wang Yilyu/Huang Kaixiang – entered the Men’s Doubles semi-finals. It will be up to Japan’s Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda to prevent a Chinese victory – the Japanese enjoyed a walkover in their quarter-final, over China’s Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan.
BWF Newsletter
