Yamaguchi pulls off upset over top-seeded Tai at Australian Open
>> Akane Yamaguchi stunned world No.1 Tai Tzu-ying to reach her first Superseries final of the year at the US$750,000 Australian Open i n Sydney yesterday.
The third-seeded Japanese cruised to a 21-19, 21-12 victory in a surprisingly short 34-minute contest to hand the top-seeded Taiwanese only her second loss this year.
It is an all-Japanese affair in today’s final as Nozomi Okuhara battled her way past sixth seed Sun Yu of China 21-18, 18-21, 21-14 in the other women’s singles semi-final at Sydney Olympic Park Sport Centre.
Tai suffered her first defeat of the year at the hands of Thailand’s Nitchaon Jindapol at the Indonesia Open last week.
In-form Srikanth Kidambi remained on course for his back-toback titles after reaching the men’s singles decider.
The Indian, who won the Indonesia Open Superseries Premier event in Jakarta last Sunday, looked unstoppable yet again as he claimed another seeded scalp yesterday.
Kidambi cruised past China’s No.4 Shi Yuqi 21-10, 21-14 in just 37 minutes.
But he faces a daunting task against reigning Olympic champion Chen Long in today’s final.
China’s Chen had another tough match against Lee Hyun-Il of South Korea before advancing with a 26-24, 15-21, 21-17 victory.
The 28-year-old also needed three games to beat Lin Dan in the quarterfinal on Friday.
Top seeds Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen scraped past fellow Chinese Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongqing 21-13, 19-21, 23-21 to book their berth in the final of the mixed doubles.
They take on seventh seeds Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto for the title after the Indonesians beat Kim DukYoung and Kim Ha-Na of South Korea 21-19, 21-16.