Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying on Saturday crashed out of the BWF All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, with South Korea’s Se Young-an denying the world No. 3 Tai a chance at a fourth All England title.
In a replay of their semi-final showdown last year, the world No. 2 Se again beat Tai, saving four match points in a thrilling deciding game to prevail 17-21, 21-19, 24-22.
Tai won the women’s singles title in Birmingham in 2017, 2018 and 2020.
Photo: Reuters
In the three times the two superstars faced each other prior to Saturday, Tai, 22, had only come out on top once, when she beat Se 21-18, 21-12 in their 2021 BWF World Tour Finals semi-final.
Se was to play China’s Chen Yufei in yesterday’s final, after Chen dominated reigning champion and world No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi 21-17, 21-8 in 37 minutes, as the Japanese star appeared to struggle with a shoulder problem.
“I have no problem at all with my physical condition,” Yamaguchi said. “She was more in control.”
Se said she was excited to play in the final.
“Being able to play in such a prestigious final at my age, it’s something I can’t express,” the 21-year-old Se said.
In the men’s singles, Shi Yuqi dumped out world No. 4 Lee Zii Jia in their semi-final to set up a title clash with fellow Chinese shuttler Li Shifeng.
Shi battled back from 14-11 down in the opening game to secure an ultimately comfortable victory, 21-19, 21-13, over Malaysia’s Lee, who had been struggling with form heading into the tournament.
“This week I learned to believe in myself again,” Lee said. “I doubted myself a lot and whether I could come back again as a top player. I proved it here.”
Shi is aiming to win the title for the second time after his 2018 triumph.
Li reached his second World Tour final of the year by surviving a comeback from Denmark’s Anders Antonsen to win 21-11, 19-21, 21-18.
Li led 17-12 in the second game before Antonsen rallied to force a decider.
However, the world No. 14 secured victory with three straight points from 18-18 to book his place in yesterday’s final.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
RSS