SHI YUQI TO MEET TIEN CHEN IN MEN'S FINAL OF INDIA OPEN
China's Shi Yuqi and Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen entered the men's singles final of the Yonex-Sunrise Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta India Open 2018, a part of the HSBC BWF World Tour 500, in contrasting fashion here on Saturday.
Tien Chen dismantled Qiao Bin of China 23-21, 21-16 in 59 minutes to enter the final for the second year in succession while Yuqi was taken the distance by the spirited Malaysian Isqandar Zulkarnain before winning 18-21, 21-10, 21-19.
After losing the first game, the fourth seed Yuqi claimed the second without much fuss. But with Zulqarnain, who broke Indian hearts by upsetting second seed Kidambi Srikanth in the prequarters, battling hard the 21-year-old Yuqi had to dig deep to gain control.
At 20-18, Zulqarnain appeared down for the count but he reduced the margin after a 42-shot rally. However, Yuqi, who was the finalist at last year's All England Open Championship sealed the game and match with a down the line smash.
In the women's singles semifinal, fifth seed Beiwen Zhang fought back after being a game down to upstage sixth Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong 14-21, 21-12, 21-19 and inch closer to her goal of winning a Super Series title in 2018.
The 27-year-old Zhang based in Las Vegas later said: "I have a habit of starting slowly. I forced her to make errors," and then exclaimed "I'm not suprised to be in the final."
In the women's doubles, Indonesian pair of Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu stunned the Danish top seeds Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen 21-14, 19-21, 21-18 in a three-game thriller that lasted one hour and 21 minutes.
Indian mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy lost to Denmark's Mathias Christiansen and Christinna Pedersen in the semi-finals.
Eighth seeded Indian pair, who had reached the semi-finals of the Japan Open last year, went down fighting 1621, 19-21 against the fifth seeded Danish pair, who reached the finals at China Open and Hong Kong Open after starting as a pair at the Denmark Open last year. Results:
Men's singles: 3-Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) bt Qiao Bin (Chn) 23-21, 21-16; 4-Shi Yuqi (Chn) v Isqandar Zulkarnain (Mas) 18-21, 21-10, 21-19
Men's doubles: 1-Marcus Gideon/ Kevin Sanjaya (Ina) bt Mohammad Ahsan/ Hendra Setiawan 21-11, 21-16
Women's singles: 5-Beiwen Zhang (USA) bt 6-Cheung Ngan Yi (HKG) 14-21, 21-12, 21-19
Women's doubles: Greysia Polii/ Apriyani Rahayu (Ina) bt 1-Kamilla Rytter Juhl/ Christinna Pedersen (Den) 21-14, 19-21, 21-18; 2-Jongkolphan Kititharakul/ Rawinda Prajongjai (Tha) bt Du Yue/ Li Yinhui (Chn) 21-19, 21-17.