Taiwanese badminton players Chen Hung-ling and Wang Chi-lin were defeated in straight sets yesterday by their Chinese opponents in the men’s doubles semi-finals of the Daihatsu Yonex Japan Open in Tokyo.
The Taiwanese pair, ranked 11th in the world, lost 14-21, 16-21 to the second-ranked Chinese duo Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen in just 33 minutes.
The Taiwanese reached the semi-finals by defeating the 29th-ranked South Korean duo Seo Seung-jae and Kim Won-ho 21-17, 21-19 on Friday.
In yesterday’s match, the Chinese players maintained a commanding lead and scored four consecutive points after reaching 12, then finished the first set with a clear win.
Chen and Wang were the only Taiwanese players to make it to the quarter-finals.
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Meanwhile, women’s singles world No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan suffered an upset in the second round on Thursday, when she lost to Chen Xiaoxin of China 18-21, 14-21.
Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen lost in the men’s singles to Lin Dan of China, also in Thursday’s second round.
The Japan Open, with a total purse of US$700,000, is part of the Badminton World Federation World Tour Super 750 tournament and is to end today.
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