Tzu Ying, Chen Long advance to Malaysia Open semis
KUALA LUMPUR: World number one women's singles badminton player, Tai Tzu Ying continued her winning streak in the Malaysia Open 2019 by cruising into the semi-finals.
The Taiwanese badminton ace easily downed former world number one Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in a straight sets, 21-19, 21-13 in the quarter-finals at Axiata Arena, Kuala Lumpur Sports City (KLSC), Bukit Jalil.
“Committing less mistakes helped me to win this game. However, the wind condition in court was a bit stronger compared to yesterday and it distracted my game.
“My focus is to win the World Championship this year and the Tokyo Olympic Games, then I will retire from badminton, 10 years in this sport is enough,” she told reporters after the match yesterday.
She will next play third seed Chen Yufei of China who defeated South Korean Sung Ji Hyun in a straight sets, 21-18, 21-14 in another quarter-final match.
Tzu Ying began her career in badminton when she was only 16 years old and became the youngest number one Taiwanese badminton player in history.
She clinched world number one spot in women's singles in December 2016 and was ranked number one for 67 consecutive weeks until Aug 5 last year.
Meanwhile, world number five Chen Long also made it into the semi-finals after defeating Kidambi Srikanth of India in a straight sets, 21-18, 21-19.
“He defeated me once (Australian Open 2017). Since then, I am more prepared. Today's game was very tough because both were very focused and refused to give up,” he said.
Chen Long is scheduled to play sixth seed, Viktor Axelsen of Denmark or Jonathan Christie of Indonesia tomorrow.