World No. 2 Chou Tien-chen yesterday prevailed in an all-Taiwanese clash in the quarter-finals of the men’s singles at the Toyota Thailand Open in Bangkok.
Chou defeated world No. 12 Wang Tzu-wei 21-16, 21-16 in 52 minutes in the Thai capital.
The top-ranked Taiwanese improved his record to 8-0 against his compatriot on the BWF World Tour.
Photo: AFP / Badminton Association of Thailand
Taiwan’s other players also had a successful day in Bangkok, as world No. 7 pairing Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin were the first Taiwanese to secure a place in the semi-finals when they defeated Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel of Germany 21-14, 21-12 in the men’s doubles.
They next face world No. 2 pairing Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia in today’s semi-finals.
In the women’s singles, Taiwanese world No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying and Canadian world No. 10 Michelle Li played their second quarter-final in a week.
Photo: AFP / Badminton Association of Thailand
After losing a tight first game 18-21, Tai staged a strong comeback and won the second game 21-13.
The Taiwanese maintained her momentum to claim the third game 21-11 and set up a semi-final against world No. 5 Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, who defeated V. Sindhu Pusarla of India 21-13, 21-9.
Earlier, Spanish fifth seed and former world No. 1 Carolina Marin sailed through to the semi-finals by beating Turkey’s Neslihan Yigit 21-6, 21-15.
The 27-year-old world No. 6 is aiming for back-to-back titles after she defeated Tai in the Yonex Thailand Open women’s singles final on Sunday.
“I wanted to keep going, keep fighting, and keep the focus on what I needed to do, even when Yigit was leading [in the second game],” Marin said.
Marin said that she was impressed with the world No. 32 — the sole Turkish player to make the quarter-finals at a BWF World Tour Super 1000 tournament.
“I hope that more European players will be playing badminton at this level,” Marin said.
Marin in the semi-finals faces South Korean An Se-young, a formidable teenager who was awarded the Most Promising Player award in 2019.
They also met last week when the more experienced Marin won 21-18, 21-16.
The 18-year-old world No. 9 said that she would need to up her mental game in preparation for the semi-final.
“If I want to win against Marin, I need to focus more than last time and have more confidence,” An said after she defeated Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-15, 21-18 in a match full of smashes and attacks.
The athletes are competing in a biosecure “bubble” without spectators in Bangkok due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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