Taiwanese badminton veteran Chou Tien-chen rose two places to No. 4 in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) men’s singles world rankings released yesterday following his bronze-medal finish at a tournament in India last week.
The 36-year-old Chou advanced to the semi-finals of the BWF World Championships in New Delhi, where he lost to Japan’s Kodai Naraoka, earning a bronze medal and 10,500 ranking points.
After the points were added to total ranking points, Chou climbed to No. 4 with 86,580 points.
Photo: AFP
The reshuffle also saw former world No. 1 Shi Yuqi of China drop to No. 6 after being eliminated in the first round of the championships.
Despite being ranked No. 4, Chou is less than 1,051 points behind new world No. 1 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia and could challenge for the top spot at the BWF China Masters, a World Tour Super 750 event, which is to begin on Tuesday next week.
“The world ranking is just a result. What matters is the effort and the process throughout the competitions,” Chou told reporters. “I believe that as long as I do what I need to do, good results will naturally follow, so I don’t pay too much attention to the ranking.”
The Taiwanese shuttler, who is also active in charity work, was scheduled to leave for Lyudao Primary School on Green Island to conduct a badminton coaching session for the school’s team.
However, due to the recent unstable weather, Chou joked: “I’ll keep an eye on the weather. If I can’t make it back to Taiwan in time, I won’t have to go to the China tournament.”
In the women’s doubles, Hsieh Pei-shan and Hung En-tzu are ranked 10th on 61,315 points, while in the mixed doubles, Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan are also 10th with 62,680 points.
China’s world No. 3 Wang Zhiyi on Thursday overcame severe cramps to down Indian star P.V. Sindhu and reach the quarter-finals of the Badminton World Championships. The top seeds kept their campaign on track, with South Korea’s world No. 1 An Se-young and defending champion Akane Yamaguchi also winning their third-round matches at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. Wang’s brave effort stood out as she beat ninth-seeded Sindhu 21-11, 15-21, 21-17 despite severely cramping in the deciding game. With scores level at 16-16 in game 3, Wang slipped and winced in pain before taking some treatment for cramps. The Chinese went down again
TAIWAN’S HSIEH ADVANCES: Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko made the semis, but Chan Hao-ching and Maya Joint of Australia were beaten in the women’s doubles World No. 3 Jessica Pegula on Thursday survived a stirring fightback from Amanda Anisimova to win 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/4) and reach the Cincinnati Open semi-finals, while Iga Swiatek also advanced when Elena Rybakina retired injured. World No. 2 Rybakina retired in the first set with an ankle problem in a setback to her preparations for the US Open Grand Slam, which is to begin on Aug. 30. Pegula took the opening set in 34 minutes, but ninth-seeded Anisimova hit back hard to claim the second, breaking early for a 3-0 lead before Pegula took a medical timeout. American Pegula squandered a 5-3
Alex Lanier yesterday became the first singles badminton player from France to clinch the BWF World Championships title, moments after France took gold in the mixed doubles, after Taiwan won bronze medals in the men’s singles and doubles the previous day. Taiwanese badminton stars Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan fell in the men’s doubles semi-finals to a Chinese duo, giving them a bronze medal, matching Taiwan’s best-ever result in the event. Lee and Yang, ranked 17th in the world and the only unseeded pair in the men’s doubles semi-finals, lost 21-18, 21-14 to world No. 3 Chinese pair Liang Weikeng
Taiwanese badminton veteran Chou Tien-chen on Friday advanced to the men’s singles semi-finals at the BWF World Championships in India, securing the second world championships medal of his career. He was to play against Japan’s Kodai Naraoka after press time last night. The 36-year-old world No. 6 defeated Indonesian rising star Alwi Farhan 21-15, 21-15 in 50 minutes to guarantee himself at least a bronze medal. Chou, who entered the match with a 2-1 career record against the world No. 12, used his defense and experience to neutralize Farhan’s attacks and claim his third win in their four meetings. Chou after
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