Akane Yamaguchi
East Asian shuttlers dominate the Korean Open badminton championships ensuing all but three semi-final spots going to players from outside the region.
Malaysia’s Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun in the men’s doubles and Americans Lauren Lam-Allison Quynh Lee in the women’s doubles and Camadian Victor Lai in the men’s singles are the only non-East Asians to survive the quarter-finals of the tournament.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun defeated the Japanese duo of Haruki Kawabe-Kenta Matsukawa 21-14, 26-24 to book their semi-final berth, where they will face top seeds Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-ja, who battled past Wang Chang-Xie Haonan of China 21-14, 15-21, 21-19 in their semi-final tie.
Lauren-Allison overcame Bulgarian sisters Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva 21-19, 21-10 in their women’s doubles quarter-final tie. The upset win over the third seeds, earned the American duo a semi-final clash against sixth seeded Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara of Japan.
Victor, twice a medalist at the World championships, defeated Japan’s Yudai Okimoto 21-19, 21-12 in his last eight tie. He faces Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu in the semi-finals. The other semi-finals will feature a clash between Taiwanese veteran Wang Tzu We and HOng Kong’s Jason Gunawan.
In the women’s singles Korean superstar An Se-young and three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi are both through to the semi-finals.
Se-young, in serach of a record equaling 11th title in one season, dismantled Riko Gunji of Japan 21-7, 21-13 in her quarter-final tie and will play another Japanese in the form of Hina Akechi for a place in the final.
As for Yamaguchi, she defeated Indonesian upstart Ni Kadek Shinda Amartya Pratiwi 21-13, 21-18 in the semi-finals and will be up against Chinese Taipei’s Lin Hsiang Ti in the semi-finals.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Wang Tzu Wei (Tpe) bt Kim Hae-deun (Kor) 21-12, 24-22; Jason Gunawan (Hkg) bt Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Ina) 23-25, 21-11, 21-13; Lee Cheuk Yiu (Hkg) bt Wang Po-Wei (Tpe) 23-21. 23-21; Victor Lai (Can) bt Yudai Okimoto (Jpn) 21-19, 21-12
Men’s doubles:
Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Wang Chang-Xie Haonan (Chn) 21-14, 15-21, 21-19; Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (Mas) bt Haruki Kawabe-Kenta Matsukawa (Jpn) 21-14, 26-24; Kang Min-hyuk-Lee Jongmin (Kor) bt Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi (Jpn) 21-17, 8-2, 21-10; Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Chia Weijie-Teo Ee Yi (Mas) 21-17, 21-18
Women’s singles: An Se-young (Kor) bt Riko Gunji (Jpn) 21-7, 21-13; Hina Akechi (Jpn) bt Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) 13-21, 23-21, 21-8; Lin Hsiang Ti (Tpe) bt Kim Min-sun (Kor) 21-6, 21-8; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Ni Kadek Shinda Amartya Pratiwi (Ina) 21-13, 21-18
Women’s doubles: Lauren Lam-Allison Quynh Lee (USA) bt Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva (Bul) 21-19, 21-10; Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) bt Kim Hye-jeong-Lee Yeon-woo (Kor) 12-21, 21-15, 21-15; Kim Yu-jung-Lee Yu-lim (Kor) bt Li Yi-jing-Wang Yiduo (Chn) 17-21, 21-8, 22-20; Chen Fan Shutian-Luo Xumin (Chn) bt Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) 15-21, 21-12, 21-17
Mixed doubles: Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) bt Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing (Mas) 21-14, 21-18; Akira Koga-Natsu Saito (Jpn) bt Chen Xing-Zhang Chi (Chn) 21-19, 20-22, 21-14; Gao Jiaxuan-Wu Mengying (Chn) bt Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi (Jpn) 9-21, 21-14, 21-18; Zhu Yijun-Li Qian (Chn) bt Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui (Chn) 14-21, 26-24, 21-19
