An Se-young dominates, Akane Yamaguchi battles through in badminton season finale
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Follow topic:
South Korea’s An Se-young dominated Tomoka Miyazaki 21-9, 21-6 at badminton's World Tour Finals in Hangzhou on Dec 18 to continue her chase for a second title at the season finale.
The Paris Olympic gold medallist was too experienced for her 19-year-old opponent and used an array of strokes to seal the win and go top of Group A after two matches.
Reigning world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan had a tougher day but battled hard in an intense 65-minute clash against Putri Kusuma Wardani.
The Indonesian took the early lead after Yamaguchi let two game points slip away but the Japanese fought back to claim a 22-24, 21-19, 21-13 victory to qualify for the semi-finals with An.
Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong bowed out of the tournament due to a recurrence of the same injury that caused her to retire from the Korea Open final against An in September.
“I was feeling fine when I came here, but after training day here I could feel it again,” she said after withdrawing.
“I forced myself to play yesterday (when she beat compatriot Ratchanok Intanon), but today my calf started swelling again.
“It’s very disappointing and I had a good start, but my body cannot go on and I need to rest.”
With three women left in Group B, Wang Zhiyi qualified for the last four after beating Ratchanok 21-17, 21-19, leaving the Thai to fight it out with another Chinese Han Yue for the remaining semi-final spot.
Japan’s Kodai Naraoka caused a major upset on the second day of the men’s competition at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre by defeating Asian Games gold medallist Li Shifeng 21-16, 21-15, handing the Chinese player his second loss in the competition.
Li struggled in the face of relentless pressure from the Japanese player, who dominated at the net to secure the win and climb to the top of Group B.
Chinese Shi Yuqi later beat Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien-chen 21-11, 19-21, 21-15 to join Naraoka in the semi-finals.
In Group A, top seed and Paris silver medallist Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand suffered a shock 21-11, 18-21, 21-10 loss to France’s Christo Popov, who is now top with two wins and has qualified for the last four.
In the late match, Denmark’s Anders Antonsen beat Jonatan Christie 21-16, 21-14 to eliminate the Indonesian.
On Dec 19, Kunlavut faces Antonsen for the other semi-final spot. REUTERS
