Okuhara Nozomi into the semi-finals (Photo by Tony2803.tw)
The battle between two former women’s singles world champions came to an abrupt end at the Indonesian Masters badminton championships in Jakarta.
Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara was the beneficiary in her quarter-final match after Thailand’s Ratchanak Intanon retired injured. The two players, looking to regain their dominance were tied at a game-all with Okuhara levelling the match after losing the first game 15-21, 22-20.
An injured Ratchanok was unable to continue, giving Okuhara a semi-final berth, where she will be up against former Olympic champion Chen Yufei of China.
Yufei defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-13, 21-17 in a semi-final match that saw the Indian players being red-carded. Trailing 12-17 in the second game, Sindhu was unhappy with the line calls and her vehement protests against the chair umpire saw her getting the yellow card and in quick succession a red.
The other semi-finals will see two unheralded players – Malaysia’s Letshanaa Karupathevan taking on Thailand’s Opatniputh Pitchamon. The Thai lass came back from a game down to defeat Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh 18-21, 26-24, 21-12 while Letshanaa picked up a comfortable 21-17, 21-18 win over Taiwanese shuttler.
Letshanaa is the first Malaysian women in three years to make a semi-final of a BWF 500 series event.
Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew will be the most prominent player to make the semi-final cut. The sixth seed packed off Taiwanese veteran Chou Tien Chen 21-13, 21-18 in his quarter-final tie and will play Thailand’s Teeraratsakul Panitchaphon next. Teeraratsakul edged out India’s Lakshya Sen 21-18, 22-20 in the quarter-finals.
The other semi-finals will see Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan taking on Taiwanese Chi Yujen. Yujen gunned down Singapore’s Jason The 21-18, 13-21, 21-13 while Alwi defeated Japan’s Yushi Tanaka 22-20, 21-16 in their respective quarter-final ties.
The men’s doubles saw both the second and third seeded pairs being shown the exit.
Unseeded youngsters Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin upstaged their more illustrious Indonesian teammates Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, the second seeds 18-21 , 21-19, 21-14.
Third seeds Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun ran out of steam against their Indonesian rivals Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani in the men’s doubles quarter-finals. The Indonesian fifth seeds won 22-20, 21-19.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s Singles: Loh Kean Yew (Sgp) bt Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) 21-13, 21-18; Chi Yujen (Tpe) bt Jason Teh Jia Heng (Sgp) 21-18, 13-21, 21-13; Alwi Farhan (Ina) bt Yushi Tanaka (Jpn) 22-20, 21-16; Teeraratsakul Panitchaphon (Tha) bt Lakshya Sen (Ind) 21-18, 22-20
Men’s Doubles: Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard (Den) bt Choi Solgyu-Goh V Shem (Kor-Mas) 15-21, 22-20, 21-14; Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani (Ina) bt Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (Mas) 22-20, 21-19; Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin (Mas) bt Song Hyun-cho-Lee Jongmin (Kor) 21-17, 21-13; Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin (Ina) bt Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (Ina) 18-21, 21-19, 21-14
Women’s Singles: Opatniputh Pitchamon (Tha) bt Nguyen Thuy Linh (Vie) 18-21, 26-24, 21-12; Chen Yufei (Chn) bt P.V. Sindhu (Ind) 21-13, 21-17; Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) bt Ratchanak Intanon (Tha) 15-21, 22-20 rtd; Letshanaa Karupathevan (Mas) bt Huang Yu-hsun (Tpe) 21-17, 21-18
Women’s Doubles: Arisa Igarashi-Miyu Takahashi (Jpn) bt Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti (Ina) 16-21, 21-11, 21-14; Mayasari Lanny Tria-Apriyani Rahayu (Ina) bt Hsu Yaching-Sung Yu-hsuan (Kor) 21-23, 21-18, 21-19; Rachel Allessya Rose-Febi Setianingrum (Ina) bt Luo Xumin-Wang Yidao (Chn) 18-21, 21-16, 21-10; Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan (Mas) bt Kim Yujung-Lee Yulim (Kor) 21-15, 21-9
Mixed Doubles: Jafar Hidayatullah-Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu (Ina) bt Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) 13-21, 22-20, 21-16; Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje (Den) bt Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui (Chn) 21-18, 21-14; Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) bt Adnan Maulana-Indah Cahya Sari Jamil (Ina) 22-20, 14-21, 21-19; Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (Mas) bt Terry Hee Yong Kai-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (Sgp-Ina) 21-16, 21-19
