Taiwanese shuttler Lee Chia-hao on Friday defeated Kenta Nishimoto of Japan to advance to the semi-finals of the All England Open Badminton Championships, his best performance in a BWF World Tour Super 1000 event.
World No. 22 Lee bested Nishimoto 21-9, 21-18 in the quarterfinals at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham, England.
The Taiwanese shuttler started strong, leveling at 4-4 before stringing together consecutive points to win the first game.
Photo: Taipei Times
Despite falling behind 3-8 early in the second, Lee quickly regained his momentum, rallying to edge out Nishimoto and secure the match.
With the victory, Lee became the second Taiwanese male player to reach the All England Open men’s singles semi-finals, following Chou Tien-chen in 2017, 2020 and 2022.
World No. 9 Chou was this year knocked out in the round-of-16 with a 21-11, 21-19 loss to world No. 1 Shi Yuqi of China, is set to face France’s rising star Alex Lanier, fresh off his Orleans Masters title win last week.
Lanier advanced with a 21-19, 21-13 victory over Taiwan’s Wang Tzu-wei.
In other matches, Taiwanese men’s doubles pair Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan were ousted in the Birmingham tournament after losing 21-11, 20-22, 22-20 to Indonesians Bagas Maulana and Leo Rolly Carnando in the quarter-finals.
Taiwan’s Liu Kang-heng and Yang Po-han lost their men’s doubles quarter-final 21-11, 21-17 to the world No. 8 Indonesian pairing of Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani.
The All England Open Badminton Championships is being held from Tuesday to today.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
Defender Steph Catley says her UEFA Women’s Champions League title win with Arsenal last week will act as motivation to secure continental glory with Australia when the country hosts the Women’s Asian Cup next year. Catley and compatriots Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross were part of the Arsenal squad that defeated Barcelona in Lisbon on Sunday last week, before flying to Melbourne to feature in the Matildas’ 2-0 win over Argentina on Friday. The game was the first in a two-match series against the South Americans as the Australians continue preparations for the continental championship in March next year, when they would