Shi Yuqi (Photo by Fauzi Ananta)
Top seeds Shi Yuqi of China and Akane Yamaguchi of Japan were forced to go the distance before booking their semi-final berths at the Thailand Open badminton championships.
The quarter-finals also saw the exit of the women’s singles third and fourth seeds from Thailand – Ratchanok Intanon and Pornpawee Chochuwong.
Three-time world champion Yamaguchi had to battle for slightly over an hour before dispatching Indian ace P.V Sindhu 19-21, 21-18, 21-15. Yamagushi was forced to retire injured when the dup last clashed at the Malaysian Open earlier this year.
Yamaguchi’s opponent in the semi-finals will be giantkiller Pitchamon Opatniputh.
The unseeded Opatniputh stunned her teammate Chochuwong 21-19, 13-21, 21-15 after a 77-minute encounter. It was only the second time that the dup have crossed each other in the international arena. Opatniputh had stretched her rival to three games when they last met at the Hong Kong Open last year, but victory was hers this time around.
As for Intanon, she was left flabbergasted by unseeded Japanese Hina Akechi in her quarter-finals. The Thai veteran was beaten 13-21, 16-21 in just 34-minutes.
Akechi will take on second seeded Chen Yufei of China for a place in the finals.
Yufei, picked up her fourth win over Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki with a clinical 21-15, 21-18 win in 45-minutes.
In the men’s singles, Yuqi, battled for more than an hour to get past a fighting Koki Watanabe of Japan 21-14, 13-21, 21-16. It was Yuqi’s third successive win over Watanabe, although they have not met in almost two years.
The Chinese star, who helped his nation win the prestigious Thomas Cup recently, will play Denmark’s third seeded Anders Antonsen in the semi-finals. The Dane had beaten Chinese Taipei’s Su Li Yang 21-11, 21-11 in his quarter-final match-up.
The other semi-final will see second seeded home favourite Kunlavut Vitidsarn taking on Taiwanese Chou Tien Chen.
Vitidsarn defeated India’s Lakshya Sen 21-19, 21-16 while Tien Chen edged past Korean Jeon Hyeok Jin 21-18, 21-23, 21-14 in the quarter-finals.
Chinese youngsters dominate
Chinese youngsters led the way at the China Masters in Baoji with eight semi-finalist in action tomorrow.
They are already assured of at least one finalist with Ma Xixiang-Qin Huizhi taking on Shen Xuanyao-Tang Ruizhi in all-Chinese mixed doubles semi-finals.
They will also have Xu Wenjing and Yuan Anqi both making the women’s singles semi-finals. They face third seeded Shriyanshi Valishetty and Thailand’s Thamonwan Nithiitikrai respectively.
THAILAND OPEN
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s Singles: Shi Yuqi (Chn) bt Koki Watanabe (Jpn) 21-14, 13-21, 21-16; Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Su Li Yang (Tpe) 21-11, 21-11; Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Lakshya Sen (Ind) 21-19, 21-16; Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) bt Jeon Hyeok Jin (Kor) 21-18, 21-23, 21-14
Men’s Doubles
Leo Rolly Carnando-Danial Marthin (Ina) bt Peeratchai Sukphun-Pakkapon Teeraratsakul (Tha) 21-16, 21-15; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt Takumi Nomura-Yuichi Shimogami (Jpn) 21-12, 21-13; Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin (Mas) bt Christopher Grimley-Matthew Grimley (Sco) 19-21, 21-15, 21-8; He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu (Chn) bt Chen Zhi Ray-Lin Yu Chieh (Tpe) 21-14, 15-21, 21-11
Women’s Singles
Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt P.V. Sindhu (Ind) 19-21, 21-18, 21-15; Chen Yufei (Chn) bt Tomoka Miyazaki (Jpn) 21-15, 21-18; Pitchamon Opatniputh (Tha) bt Pornpawee Chochuwong (Tha) 21-19, 13-21, 21-15; Hina Akechi (Jpn) Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) 21-13, 21-16
Women’s Doubles
Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) bt Isyana Syahira Meida-Rinjani Kwinnara Nastine (Ina) 21-12, 12-21, 21-17; Hu Ling Fang-Jheng Yu Chieh (Tpe) bt Hinata Suziki-Nao Yamakita (Jpn) 22-20, 19-21, 21-15; Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) bt Sayaka Hirota-Ayoka Sakuramoto (Jpn) 21-11, 21-12; Bao Lijing-Cao Zihan (Chn) bt Lin Chih-Chun-Yang Chu Yun (Tpe) 21-14, 21-19
Mixed Doubles: Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) bt Ye Hong Wei-Nicole Gonzales Chan (Tpe) 21-17, 20-22, 21-18; Zhu Yijun-Li Qian (Chn) bt Akira Koga-Natsu Saito (Jpn) 21-10, 22-20; Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje (Den) bt Gao Jiaxuan-Wei Yaxin (Chn) 21-16, 18-21, 21-19; Chen Xing-Zhang Chi (Chn) bt Yuichi Shimogami-Sayaka Hobara (Jpn) 21-15, 21-11
CHINA MASTERS
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s Singles: Wang Yu-Kai (Tpe) bt Sun Chao (Chn) 21-14, 21-13; Minoru Koga (Jpn) bt Liu Yuxuan (Chn) 21-14, 18-21, 24-22; Riku Hatano (Jpn) bt Tushar Suveer (Ind) 11-21, 21-13, 21-18; Riki Takei (Jpn) bt Meiraba Luwang Maisnam (Ind) 21-14, 21-10
Men’s Doubles: Ma Shang-Shen Xuanyao (Chn) bt Hung Bing Fu-Liu Fu Syuan (Tpe) 21-13, 21-14; Chen Sheng Fa-Shao Hua Chiu (Tpe) bt Weeraphat Phakjarung-Tanupat Viriyangkura (Tha) 21-19, 21-14; Shuntaro Mezaki-Yuta Oku (Jpn) bt Haruki Kawabe-Kenta Matsukawa (Jpn) 15-21, 21-14, 21-17; Chen You An-Lin You-Yu (Tpe) bt Chayapat Piboon-Tanadon Punpanich (Tha) 23-21, 20-22, 21-14
Women’s Singles: Xu Wenjing (Chn) bt Ashmita Chaliha (Ind) 21-17, 21-18; Yuan Anqi (Chn) bt Mutiara Ayu Puspitasari (Ina) 21-16, 21-11; Thamonwan Nithiittikrai (Tha) bt Tonrug Saeheng (Tha) 21-15, 21-17; Shriyanshi Valishetty (Ind) bt Passa-Orn Phannachet (Tha) 21-11, 21-9
Women’s Doubles: Wu Jiashu-Yang Jiayi (Chn) bt Chen Yu Hsuan-Liu Chiao-Yun (Tpe) 28-26, 24-22; Low Yi Zu-Noraqilah Maisarah (Mas) bt Huang Kexin-Liang Yuen (Chn) 21-14, 16-21, 21-15; Sumire Nakade-Miyu Takahashi (Jpn) bt Cheng Su Hui-Teoh Mei Xing (Mas) 21-9, 21-11; Wang Yiduo-Wang Zimeng (Chn) bt Ding Keyun-Fu Xinyi (Chn) 18-21, 22-20, 21-10
Mixed Doubles: Shen Xuanyao-Tang Ruizhi (Chn) bt Too Ming Yap-Lee Yu Shan (Mas) 22-20, 21-15; Bimo Prasetyo-Ariya Nabila Thesya Munggaran (Ina) bt Chen Bo-Yuan-Sung Yi-Hsuan (Tpe) 21-19, 21-18; Chan Yin Chak-Ng Tsz Yau (Hkg) bt Wee Yee Hern-Vannee Gobi (Mas) 21-12, 21-16; Ma Xixiang-Qin Huizhi (Chn) bt Li Hongyi-Huang Kexin (Chn) 21-19, 24-22
