Chou Tien Chen
Top seed Chou Tien Chen is out of the Orleans Open badminton championships as the French duo of Alex Lanier and Toma Popov Junior storm into the semi-finals.
Former World and Asian junior champion Hu Zhean of China came back from a game down to beat Tien Chen 12-21, 21-18, 21-15 in the quarter-finals of the men’s singles.
Zhean, who had lost in the opening round of the Swiss Open earlier this month, battled hard for 77-minutes before overcoming the veteran Taiwanese. He will be up against fourth seeded Popov Junior in the semi-final.
Popov Junior overcame a strong fight in the opening game before asserting his dominance over China’s Dong Tuanyao 22-20, 21-13 in his quarter-final tie.
Fellow Frenchman Lanier will play Japan’s Yudai Okimoto in the other semi-finals.
Lanier picked up a clinical 21-14, 21-15 victory over Taiwanese Su Li Yang while Okimoto was equally impressive in his 21-12, 21-15 win over Denmark’s Magnus Johannesen.
India will have two representatives in the women’s singles semi-finals.
Youngster Tanvi Sharma picked up a shocking 21-14, 21-14 win over Japan’s Natsuki Nidaira. Isharani Baruah made the semi-final cut after her teammate Malvika Bansod had retired trailing 9-21, 7-15.
Isharani will take on Okuhara in the semi-finals while Tanvi faces Thailand’s Pitchamon Opatniputh.
The Thai lass had beaten seventh seeded Riko Gunji of Japan 21-19, 12-21, 21-16 after a grueling 70-minute quarter-final clash.
Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara is the highest seed still in the competition, having cruised past Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh 21-18, 21-9 in her semi-finals.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Toma Popov Junior (Fra) bt Dong Tianyao (Chn) 22-20, 21-13; Alex Lanier (Fra) bt Su Li Yang (Tpe) 21-14, 21-15; Hu Zhean (Chn) bt Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) 12-21, 21-18, 21-16; Yudai Okimoto (Jpn) bt Magnus Johannesen (Den) 21-12, 21-15
Men’s doubles: Hu Keyuan-Lin Xiangyi (Chn) bt Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi (Jpn) 12-21, 21-19, 21-9; Christian Faust Kjaer-Rasmus Kjaer (Den) bt Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin (Ina) 21-18, 12-21, 21-14; Leo Rolly Carnando-Bagas Maulana (Ina) bt Hariharan Amsakarunan-M.R. Arjun (Ind) 21-12, 22-20; Hiroki Okamura-Kyohei Yamashita (Jpn) bt Lao Po Yu-Tsai Fu Cheng (Tpe) 17-21, 21-19, 21-13
Women’s singles: Tanvi Sharma (Ind) bt Natsuki Nidaira (Jpn) 21-14, 21-14; Pitchamon Opatniputh (Tha) bt Riko Gunji (Jpn) 21-19, 12-21, 21-16; Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) bt Nguyen Thuy Linh (Vie) 21-18, 21-8; Isharani Baruah (Ind) bt Malvika Bansod (Ind) 21-9, 15-7 rtd
Women’s doubles: Rachel Alessya Rose-Febi Setianingrum (Ina) bt Hsu Ya Ching-Sung Yu-hsuan (Tpe) 21-14, 21-15; Sumire Nakade-Miyu Takahashi (Jpn) bt Lauren Lam-Allison Quynh Lee (USA) 21-12, 21-14; Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) bt Bao Lijing-Luo Xumin (Chn) 16-21, 26-24, 21-17; Lin Chih-chun-Yang Chu Yun (Tpe) bt Margot Lambert-Camille Pognante (Fra) 22-24, 21-14, 21-13
Mixed doubles: Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi (Jpn) bt Liu Kuang Heng-Jheng Yu Chieh (Tpe) 21-12, 21-15; Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) bt Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi (Chn) 21-9, 21-23, 21-17; Ruben Garcia-Lucia Rodriguez (Esp) bt Zhu Yijun-Li Qian (Chn) 21-23, 23-21, 21-19; Mathias Christiansen-Alexandre Boje (Den) bt Amri Syahnawi-Nita Violina Marwah (Ina) 21-19, 21-16
