South Korea’s An Se-young finished top of Group A in the women’s singles at badminton’s World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China, after defeating world champion Akane Yamaguchi 14-21, 21-5, 21-14.
But the luck of draw has pitted both players up against each other once again in the semi-finals. While Se Young holds a slight 16-15 winning edge over her Japanese rival, she has beaten Yamaguchi in five of the six meetings this year.
Yamaguchi’s only win over the top seeded Se Young this season was at the Korean Open in September.
Se Young is chasing to equal men’s singles legend Kento Momota’s record of 11 Tour titles in a single season.
The other women’s singles will pit Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon against China’s second seed Wang Zhi Yi.
Ratchanok , who won the recent SEA Games title, was lucky to qualify for the semi-finals despite having lost two of her Group matches. She lost to teammate Pornpawee Chochuwong in the opening match but the larter withdrew from the competition. She also lost to Zhi Yi and yesterday she defeated an out of sorts Han Yue of China 21-17-21-10.
Women’s doubles top seeds Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralithran are also pitted against their conquerors last night in the semi-final today. Japan’s Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto will be looking to repeat their 21-15, 16-21, 21-19 victory in the group matches, in the semi-finals.
Similarly, world mixed doubles champions Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei of Malaysia have been pitted against China’s Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping, who beat the former 21-18, 26-24 in their group matches last night.
RESULTS
MEN’S SINGLES
Group A: Christo Popov (Fra) bt Jonathan Christie (Ina) 18-21, 21-16, 21-13; Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Anders Antonsen (Den) 21-15, 18-21, 21-13
Group B: Chou Tien Chen (Chn) bt Li Shi Feng (Chn) 14-21, 11-14 retired; Shi Yu Qi (Chn) bt Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) 21-9, 21-11
Semi-final match-ups: Christo Popov (Fra) vs Kodai Naraoka (Jpn); Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) vs Shi Yu Qi (Chn
MEN’S DOUBLES
Group A: Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae (Kor) bt Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (Mas) 25-23, 14-21, 21-19; Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani (Ina) bt Chiu Hsiang Chieh-Wang Chi-lin (Tpe) 21-19, 20-22, 21-15
Group B: Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (Ina) 21-17, 21-14;Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) 17-21, 21-18, 21-15
Semi-final match-ups: Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae (Kor) vs Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani (Ina); Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang (Chn) vsSatwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind)
WOMEN’S SINGLES
Group A: Putri Kusuma Wardani (Ina) bt Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) 21-17, 21-9; An Se Young (Kor) bt Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) 14-21, 21-5, 21-14
Group B: Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Han Yue (Chn) 21-17, 21-10
Semi-final match-ups: An Se Young (Kor) vs Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn); Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) vs Wang Zhi Yi (Chn)
WOMEN’S DOUBLES
Group A: Jia Yi Fan-Zhang Shu Xian (Chn) bt Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) 21-11, 21-8; Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) bt Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan (Mas) 21-15, 16-21, 21-19;
Group B: Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Kim Hye Jeong-Kong Hee Ying (Kor) 21-17, 21-11; Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee (Kor) bt Hsieh Pei Shan-Hung En-tzu (Tpe) 21-17, 21-19
Semi-final match-ups: Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) vs Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan (Mas); Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning (Chn) vs Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee (Kor)
MIXED DOUBLES
Group A: Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin (Chn) bt Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) 21-10, 21-12; Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito (Jpn) bt Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) 21-14, 21-23, 21-14
Group B: Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping (Chn) bt Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (Mas) 21-18, 26-24; Jafar Hidayatullah-Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu (Ina) bt Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (Mas) 21-17, 21-17
Semi-final match-ups: Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito (Jpn) vs : Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping (Chn); Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin (Chn) vs Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (Mas)
