China book three spots at BWF German Open women’s singles semis

MULHEIM AN DER RUHR, Germany, March 11 (Xinhua) — China’s three women’s singles players advanced to the final four while Ou Xuanyi secured the semifinal spots both in men’s doubles and mixed doubles at BWF World Tour German Open here on Friday.

The third-seeded Chen Yufei overwhelmed Li Yvonne representing Germany 21-5, 21-16 in 32 minutes in the women’s singles.

Li told Xinhua in Chinese that it was a great opportunity to play against Olympic champion Chen and that she had watched many of Chen’s replays, especially the Tokyo Olympic final.

“She has really fantastic defense and my attacks don’t work at all. I think I need a bit more patience,” said Li. “I pushed myself to make more moves and longer rallies during the second game to collect some points.”

He Bingjiao received a walkover as eighth seed Thai Ratchanok Intanon withdrew after being tested positive for COVID on Friday morning. Zhang Yiman edged Sayaka Takahashi of Japan 21-19, 21-19 to win a chance to challenge Chen Yufei in the semifinals.

In men’s singles, Zhao Junpeng was defeated by fifth seed Lee Zii Jia from Malaysia 21-12, 21-18. None of the Chinese players has reached the final four as Li Shifeng and Lu Guangzu were eliminated in the previous rounds.

“I was a bit hurried in attacking. Power is an essential factor but I failed to give stable powerful smashes, and sometimes I lost points from the opponent’s counterattack,” said Zhao.

“I think I have made some progress but I’m feeling a bit weak while playing the top opponents. I hope to keep fighting to reach the top 15 in world rankings this season,” Zhao said.

Chinese women’s doubles players have mixed feelings, though. Two-time world champions and top-seeded pair Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan knocked out the Malaysian duo Vivian Hoo and Lim Chiew Sien 21-15, 22-20, while Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu took an easy win over South Korean duo Jeong Na Eun and Kim Hye Jeong 21-14, 21-12. Another pair Du Yue and Li Wenmei were edged by sixth seeds Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand 22-24, 21-19, 21-19 in a tough fight of 114 minutes.

“We tried our best but it looks like we were not doing well enough in details, especially in key points,” said Du.

The Chinese duo also lost to the Thai players at the 2021 Denmark Open 2-0 but Li believed they have improved the techniques compared to the last meeting.

“It’s going very well today and we should have made it,” said Li. “We had a good preparation for this match, but we couldn’t snatch the win after overcoming many difficulties.”

He Jiting and Zhou Haodong booked a semifinal position in men’s doubles by outplaying Indian duo Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala 21-11, 23-21. Ou Xuanyi fought to the semifinals both in men’s doubles and mixed doubles.

The 28-year-old Ou, paired up with Tokyo Olympic men’s doubles silver medalist Liu Yuchen, smashed Japan’s Keiichiro Matsui and Yoshinori Takeuchi 21-12,21-16. Later, Ou and partner Tokyo Olympic mixed silver winner Huang Yaqiong won over the seven-seeded French pair Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue in the mixed doubles.

“To play in both semis is a challenge for me. I’ve never done that before and it will be a great experience,” said Ou, “I’m feeling more confident now and I’ll try my best in both matches tomorrow.”