The Chan sisters successfully negotiated the quarter-finals of the doubles at the Hong Kong Open yesterday, but it was not as good a day for fellow Taiwanese Chang Kai-shen, who was ousted in the second round of the singles at the Tianjin Open.
Top seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan took 1 hour, 17 minutes to see off Marina Erakovic of New Zealand and Zhang Ling of Hong Kong 6-4, 6-3.
The Taiwanese sisters saved 10 of 13 break points and converted five of 15, winning 63 of the 118 points contested to advance to the semi-finals.
In the remaining rain-delayed first-round doubles match, Taiwan’s Lee Ya-hsuan and Kotomi Takahata of Japan fell to a 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 defeat to British duo Naomi Broady and Heather Watson.
In the singles, there were wins for German top seed Angelique Kerber, Danish fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki, Australian eighth seed Daria Gavrilova and Kristina Mladenovic of France.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US ousted French sixth seed Caroline Garcia 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, while China’s Wang Qiang advanced with a walkover when British third seed Johanna Konta withdrew with an abdominal strain.
In Tianjin, Chang fell to a 6-3, 6-3 defeat to Peng Shuai in 1 hour, 18 minutes.
The Chinese world No. 182 saved two of five break points and converted seven of 18, winning 68 of the 121 points contested to improve her career record over the Taiwanese world No. 220 to 2-0 following her previous victory in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, six years ago.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
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