Top seeded Shi Yuqi of China was in sublime form as he cruised into the men\u2019s singles final at the Malaysian Open badminton championships in Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He will now take on Thailand\u2019s Kunlavut Vitidsarn in a repeat of the World Championships last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yuqi defeated third seed Anders Antonsen 21-13, 21-14 in commanding style in the semi-finals. The duo featured in the last two finals with Antonssen winning in 2024 and Yuqi avenging the defeat last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Antonsen came out aggressively in the opening game to counter the draft on his side of the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Yuqi quickly settled into his stride, and showed his technical skills, especially at the net. He raced to a 9-5 lead only to see Antonsen hit back with five successive points to make it very close at the changeover. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yuqi widened the gap and closed out the set at the first opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Things didn’t get any better in the second set for Antonsen, who quickly fell behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yuqi made it 20-10, and although the third-seeded Dane desperately attempted a late comeback, Shi Yu Qi closed off the match with a quick kill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His rival in the final, Vitidsarn made up for his disappointing show at the BWT Tour last month with a polished semi-final triumph over Indonesian veteran Jonatan Christie, winning 21-13, 21-14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, in the women\u2019s singles top ranked Korean An Se-young was given a free pass into the final after her rival Chen Yufei withdrew due to an injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She will play nemesis Wang Zhiyi of China in the final. Zhi Yi had upstaged Indian\u2019s P.V. Sindhu 21-16, 21-15 in her semi-final tie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SEMI-FINAL RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Men\u2019s singles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Jonatan Christie (Ina) 21-16, 21-16; Shi Yuqi (Chn) bt Anders Antonsen (Den) 21-13, 21-14<\/p>\n\n\n\n Men\u2019s doubles: <\/strong>Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) 8-21, 21-11, 21-18; Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) bt Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (Ina) 23-21, 21-18<\/p>\n\n\n\n Women\u2019s singles: <\/strong>Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt PV Sindhu (Ind) 21-16, 21-15; An Se-young (Kor) bt Chen Yufei (Chn) withdrawn<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Women\u2019s doubles: <\/strong>Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) bt Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) 21-16, 21-12; Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Jeong Na-eun-Lee Yeon-woo (Kor) 21-8, 21-17<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mixed doubles: <\/strong>Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet (Hkg) 21-14, 21-14; Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) bt Jesper Toft-Amalie Magelund (Eng) 21-15, 21-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Top seeded Shi Yuqi of China was in sublime form as he cruised into the men\u2019s singles final<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7783,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[75],"class_list":["post-7782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-badminton"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t