Taiwanese badminton player Chou Tien-chen defeated Vietnam’s Nguyen Hai Dang on Thursday to advance to the quarter-finals of the BWF Super 300 US Open in straight games, 21-17, 21-17.
Facing each other for the first time in two years, Chou and Nguyen battled in a tight first game, with world No. 6 Chou pulling ahead late to secure the win.
Nguyen appeared poised to even the match after taking a 14-7 lead in the second game, but Chou, the top seed in the men’s singles category, rallied to overcome the world No. 73 to clinch a spot in the quarter-finals.
Photo: AFP
Chou is to next face Victor Lai of Canada, who upset fifth seed Su Li-yang of Taiwan on Thursday 21-18, 21-13.
In other results, Taiwan’s Liao Jhuo-fu and Kuo Kuan-lin also advanced to the men’s singles quarter-finals.
Liao triumphed over seventh-seed Justin Hoh of Malaysia, 21-15, 9-21, 21-17, in just under an hour, while Kuo came from behind to defeat fellow Taiwanese Ting Yen-chen (丁彥宸) 13-21, 21-13, 21-15.
In the women’s singles, Taiwan’s third-seeded Sung Shuo-yun progressed to the quarter-finals, with five of the eight teams in the men’s and women’s doubles semi-finals hailing from Taiwan.
While BWF Super 300 events are not considered top-tier tournaments and are typically bypassed by the world’s elite players, they offer opportunities to players outside the top echelon to pick up ranking points.
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
REUNION: Former Barcelona players Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Miami coach Javier Mascherano are to face their former coach Luis Enrique Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi faces a tantalizing reunion with former club Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup last 16 after both sides on Monday progressed to the knockout phase. Miami drew 2-2 with Palmeiras to go through second in Group A, after the Brazilian side fought back from two goals down to seal top spot. They now face an all-Brazil clash against Botafogo, who lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid, but progressed from Group B in second at the expense of the Spaniards. Champions of Europe PSG won the group with a 2-0 victory over Seattle Sounders, paving the
RSS