Taiwan’s World No. 2 Chou Tien-chen smashed his way into the semi-finals in the men’s singles at the Danisa Denmark Open on Friday after a seven-month hiatus from international competition amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The second-seeded Chou has had an impressive run since the restart and proved to be a formidable opponent against fifth-seeded former champion Srikanth Kidambi of India at the Odense Sports Park, pocketing a 20-22, 21-13, 21-16 victory in a quarter-final match that lasted 62 minutes.
Kidambi, ranked No. 14 in the world, previously clinched the men’s singles title at the Denmark Open in 2017.
Photo: AP
A slow start gave the Indian a 7-10 lead before Chou caught up with five consecutive points raising the score to 12-10 in the first set.
The Taiwanese shuttler showed his physical prowess by moving strongly around the court, putting pressure on his opponent, who was exposed on the backhand.
Chou did his best to not let Kidambi claim the net as the Indian tried to pin the Taiwanese ace in the backcourt before setting himself up for a powerful smash. Good defense by both created long rallies, with one counting as many as 45 shots.
Photo: AFP
Despite Chou polishing his game toward the end of the first set, it was Kidambi who pocketed it.
Chou put on a stunning performance in the second set by refusing to play to the tune of his opponent, creating good angles for cross-court shots.
Chou added power-packed smashes that put Kidambi’s stamina to the test, while a few too many unforced errors from the Indian’s racket practically handed the set to Chou, who made quick some swift cross-court saves.
In the deciding set, Chou stuck to his plan of digging deep and taking sharp shots in the front court.
In what was almost a replay of the second set, Chou dominated the deciding round, with the last shot landing on the line a cue for his customary roar upon victory.
The win gave Chou a head-to-head record of 6-1 against Kidambi, dating to their first meeting at the Hong Kong Open in 2014, where Kidambi won.
Chou was to play third-seeded World No. 3 Anders Antonsenin of Denmark in the semi-finals. That match began shortly before press time last night.
Chou’s previous matches at the tournament were a 21-16, 21-11 first-round win over Victor Svendsen of Denmark and a 21-8, 21-16 victory over Nhat Nguyen of Ireland in the quarter-finals.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Chris Wood has fired Nottingham Forest into surprise UEFA Champions League contention and now the striker wants to score the goals to help New Zealand make history at the FIFA World Cup. New Zealand are strong favorites to qualify out of the Oceania region over the next week and reach the World Cup for only the third time. At the country’s two previous appearances at the finals, in 1982 and 2010, they have failed to win a match in six attempts. With Wood captaining the side and leading from the front, he told local media yesterday that the current squad can finally deliver
RSS