Eight Taiwanese badminton players were to compete in four semi-finals at the Yonex German Open in Mulheim, Germany.
Lin Chun-yi and Chi Yu-jen made it to the men’s singles semi-finals after beating their individual opponents in the quarter-finals on Friday, while the pair of Wang Chi-lin and Chiu Hsiang-chieh made their way into the men’s doubles semis.
Partners Yang Po-hsuan and Hu Ling-fang also punched their tickets into the semi-finals of the mixed event at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 event, but yesterday lost to China’s Cheng Xing and Zhang Chi.
Photo: CNA
Hsu Ya-ching and Sung Yu-hsuan were to play in the semis of the women’s doubles after press time last night.
Taiwan’s left-handed shuttler, Lin, advanced past China’s Weng Hongyang to the semis 12-21, 22-20, 21-18 after a rocky start.
Also in men’s singles, Taiwan’s Chi breezed past his Vietnamese-Irish opponent Nhat Nguyen in a two-game match 21-18, 21-15, remaining undefeated throughout the two players’ career matchups.
Besides Lin and Chi taking up two of the four semi-final spots for Taiwan, brothers Christo Popov and Toma Junior Popov clinched the other two semi-final tickets for France, setting up the nations against one another at the semis yesterday after press time.
Meanwhile, two-time Olympic gold medalist Wang and partner Chiu were to be competing against French shuttlers Julien Maio and William Villeger in the semis, after the Taiwanese athletes came back from a deficit against the Malaysian duo of Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin 16-21, 21-16, 21-18.
Yang and Hu were able to secure their chance in the top four after a 21-19, 12-21, 21-17 victory over Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh and Oranicha Jongsathapornpan.
Hsu and Sung on Friday won a close game from fellow Taiwanese females Yang Ching-tun and Chang Ching-hui 20-22, 21-18, 21-19.
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