Nguyen Thuy Linh
Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh scalped top seeded Chiu Pin-Chian to storm into the women’s singles semi-finals at the Taipei Open badminton championships.
The 28-year-old veteran carved out a 21-14, 19-21, 21-13 for her third win over the Taiwanese in four meetings. It was sweet revenge for Nguyen, who was beaten by Pin-Chian at the Korea Masters final last year.
Nguyen will play third seeded Unnati Hooda, who got the better to compatriot Devika Sihag, in the semi-finals tomorrow.
Unnati had beaten Devika 23-21, 21-16 to book her first semi-final spot this season. It was quite a turnaround for the lass, who was beaten in the first round in all her appearance in the BWF Tour this season.
The other semi-finals will see unseeded Tanvi Sharma of India taking on home favourite Huang Yu-Hsun.
Yu-Hsun had also sprang a major upset when she gunned down fellow Taiwanese Lin Hsiang Ti 17-21, 21-13, 21-18 in her quarter-final tie.
As for Tanvi, she booked her second semi-final berth of the season, defeating Thailand’s Supanida Katethong 21-15, 18-21, 21-14. She was also a semi-finalists at the Orleans Open earlier this year.
Both the top two seeds in the men’s doubles have also been unceremoniously dumped out.
Top seeds Chiu Hsiang Chieh-Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei, battled for closet to an hour but could not stop Japan’s Hiroki Okamura-Kyohei Yamashita from taking a 21-18, 22-24, 21-17 win.
Malaysia’s newly forged pairing of Aaron Chai-Aaron Tai upset second seeds Lee Jhe-Huei-Yang Po-Hsuan in their quarter-final tie. The fifth seeded Malaysian’s battled to a 15-21, 21-7, 21-18 win to book their semi-final slot.
While both the top two seeds in the women’s singles were shown the exit in the quarter-finals, the top two seeds in the men’s singles made the semi-finals in contrasting styles.
Top seeded Chou Tien Chen cruised to a 21-18, 21-10 win over Wang Yu-Kai in an all-Chinese Taipei last eight clash. He will take on Japan’s fourth seeded Yudai Okimoto in the semi-finals.
Second seed Lin Chun-Yi had to come back from a game down to book his semi-final spot. The Taiwanese shuttler defeated Hong Kong’s Jason Gunawan 19-21, 21-11, 21-12.
He will play unseeded Korean Yoo Tae-bin in the semi-finals.
Mixed doubles’ top ranked duo Ye Hong Wei-Nicole Gonzales Chan are also out in the quarter-finals. Japan’s eight seeds Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi stormed to a comfortable 21-18, 21-7 victory in their quarter-final tie.
Also beaten were fourth seeds Ruttanapak Oupthong-Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat of Thailand. They fell victim to Taiwan’s Wu Guan Xun-Lee Chia, who grew from strength-to-strength, to win 14-21, 21-16, 21-18.
In the women’s doubles, top seeds Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan continued their march, defeating the Taiwanese duo of Lin Chih-Chun-Yang Chu Yan 21-14, 21-17.
They are the only seeded pairs left in the draw after fifth seeds Hsu Ya-Ching-Sung Yu-Hsuan of Chinese Taipei crashed to a 19-21, 13-21 defeat at the hands of Japan’s Sumire Nakade-Miyu Takahashi.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Lin Chun-Yi (Tpe) bt Jason Gunawan (Hkg) 19-21, 21-11, 21-12; Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) bt Wang Yu Kai (Tpe) 21-18, 21-10; Yudai Okimoto (Jpn) bt Kiran George (Ind) 21-12, 21-10; Yoo Tae-bin (Kor) bt Justin Hoh (Mas) 21-17, 21-18
Men’s doubles: Hiroki Okamura-Kyohei Yamashita (Jpn) bt Chiu Hsiang Chieh-Wang Chi-Lin (Tpe) 21-18, 22-24, 21-17; Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin (Ina) bt Lin Chia Yen-Lin Yong Sheng (Tpe) 21-11, 21-17; Aaron Chia-Aaron Tai (Mas) bt Lee Jhe-Huei-Yang Po-Hsuan (Tpe) 18-21, 21-7, 21-18; Chen Cheng Kuan-Liu Kuang Heng (Tpe) bt Jin Yong-Lee Jongmin (Kor) 21-10, 13-21, 21-16
Women’s singles: Nguyen Thuy Linh (Vie) bt Chiu Pin-Chian (Tpe) 21-14, 19-21, 21-13; Huang Yu-Hsun (Tpe) bt Lin Hsiang Ti (Tpe) 17-21, 21-13, 21-18; Unnati Hooda (Ind) bt Devika Sihag (Ind) 23-21, 21-16; Tanvi Sharma (Ind) bt Supanida Katethong (Tha) 21-15, 18-21, 21-14
Women’s doubles: Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan (Mas) bt Lin Chih-Chun-Yang Chu Yun (Tpe) 21-14 , 21-17; Sumire Nakade-Miyu Takahashi (Jpn) bt Hsu Ya Ching-Sung Yu-Hsuan (Tpe) 21-19, 21-13; Francesca Corbett-Jennis Gai (USA) bt Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn-Sabrina Sophita Wedler (Tha) 19-21, 21-18, 21-9; Hathaithip Mijad-Napapakorn Tungkasatan (Tha) bt Low Zi Yow-Noraqilah Maisarah (Mas) 11-21, 22-20, 24-22
Mixed doubles: Yang Po-Hsuan-Hu Ling Fang (Tpe) bt Haruki Kawabe-Kokona Ishikawa (Jpn) 21-12, 21-12; Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi (Jpn) bt Ye Hong Wei-Nicole Gonzales Chan (Tpe) 21-18, 21-7; Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (Ina) bt Supak Jomkoh-Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn (Tha) 17-21, 21-16, 21-10; Wu Guan Xun-Lee Chia Hsin (Tpe) bt Ruttanapak Oupthong-Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat (Tha) 14-21, 21-16, 21-18
