Shi Yuqi (Photo by Fauzi Ananta)
It was a day to relish for the underdogs as many higher ranked players including the top two men’s singles player Shi Yuqi of China and Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn biting the dust at the Japan Open badminton championships in Tokyo.
Also out is third seeded Dane Anders Antonsen, who could not stop Japan’s Koki Watanabe from running away with a 21-13, 21-17 quarter-final win.
It was the second time this year that world number 17 Watanabe has beaten Antonsen, after losing in all their five previous meeting. He also beat Antonsen, the world number three, at the All-England in April.
Watanabe will play teammate Yushi Tanaka in the semi-finals after he defeated reigning Asian champion Kunlavut 20-22, 21-16, 21-18.
It was Tanaka’s first victory over his illustrious opponent, ranked second in the world and came after a 72-minute battle.
Frenchman Christo Popov came back from a game down to beat top ranked Yuqi 14-21, 21-10, 21-11 in his quarter-final tie. Popov improved his record against the Chinese ace to 3-5 with the win that will see him taking on a third Japanese star in the semi-finals – Kodai Naraoka.
Naraoka defeated Indonesian upstart Alwi Farhan 21-18, 20-22, 21-18 in a 98-minute marathon quarter-finals.
Indonesian Putri Kusuma Wardani sprang the biggest surprise in the women’s singles. The sixth seed upstaged a fast fading China’s Wang Zhiyi 9-21, 21-17, 21-4 in their quarter-final tie.
She will square off against third seed Akane Yamaguchi, who struggled past Korean Kim Ga-eun 14-21, 21-13, 22-20, in the semi-finals.
The other semi-finals will see Indian veteran P.V. Sindhu taking on fourth seeded Chen Yufei of China. Sindhu cruised into the semi-finals without raising her racquets after her opponent Nozomi Okuhara of Japan conceded a walkover injured.
In the mixed doubles, Malaysian youngsters Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Yun continued to assert their growing stature in disposing the world number three ranked pair of Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje of Denmark 21-17, 21-17.
With the stunning win, the Malaysian duo, ranked 118 in the world, are through to the semi-finals of a BWF World Tour 750 for the first time in their budding partnership.
The Japan Open is only their fifth as a pair since their debut at the Malaysian Masters in May. Ironically they were beaten in straight games by the Danish pair in the first round at the Malaysian Masters.
They will now play another surprise package in the semi-finals in the form of Chinese-Taipei’s Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet. The seventh seeded Taiwanese duo picked up a surprisingly easy 21-17, 21-13 win over second seeds Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin in their quarter-final tie.
There was also an upset in the men’s doubles. Japan’s eighth seeded Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi romped past fourth seeds Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang of China 21-12, 21-10.
SECOND ROUND RESULTS
Men’s singles: Yushi Tanaka (Jpn) bt Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) 20-22, 21-16, 21-18; Koki Watanabe (Jpn) bt Anders Antonsen (Den) 21-13, 21-17; Christo Popov (Fra) bt Shi Yuqi (Chn) 14-21, 21-10, 21-11; Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) bt Alwi Farhan (Ina) 21-18, 20-22, 21-18
Men’s doubles: Kim Won-ho-Seo Sueng-jae (Kor) bt Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai (Mas) 21-13, 21-10; Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (Ina) bt Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) 22-20, 21-13; Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) 21-12, 21-19; Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin (Mas) bt Chen Yi Zhi-Presley Smith (USA) 21-18, 15-21, 21-13
Women’s singles: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Kim Ga-eun (Kor) 14-21, 21-13, 22-20; Chen Yufei (Chn) bt Sim Yu-jin (Kor) 21-10, 21-12; P.V. Sindhu (Ind) bt Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) walkover; Putri Kusuma Wardani (Ina) bt Wang Zhiyi (Chn) 9-21, 21-17, 21-4
Women’s doubles: Hsu Yin-Hui-Lin Jhih Yun (Tpe) bt Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Meilysa Trias Puspitasari (Ina) 21-18, 21-15; Kim Hye-jeong-Kong Hee-yang (Kor) bt Lauren Lam-Allisson Quynh Lee (USA) 21-13, 21-13; Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian (Chn) bt Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva (Bul) 21-12, 21-12; Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) bt Hinata Suzuki-Nao Yamakita (Jpn) 21-14, 21-10
Mixed doubles: Akira Koga-Natsu Saito (Jpn) bt Yang Po-Hsuan-Hu Ling Fang (Tpe) 21-14, 17-21, 21-13; Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet (Hkg) bt Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) 21-17, 21-13; Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Yun (Mas) bt Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje (Den) 21-17, 21-17; Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Ye Hong Wei-Nicole Gonzales Chan (Tpe) 21-5, 21-17
