Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen yesterday reached the men’s singles final at the Japan Open, but Tai Tzu-ying was forced to pull out of the tournament after aggravating a left knee injury.
Entering the Super 750 event in Yokohama with a lingering knee issue, Tai was leading 15-5 against Natsuki Nidaira of Japan in the first game of their women’s singles quarter-final when she overextended her left knee while attempting unsuccessfully to save a net cord shot.
The 30-year-old grimaced in pain and sat courtside after calling for an injury timeout, allowing medical staff to apply cold spray to her knee.
Photo: AFP
Tai, the top seed in the Japan event, returned to the game and overcame the setback to securing a spot in the semi-finals, but later on Friday withdrew from the tournament, giving Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan a free path to today’s final against Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.
Tai’s withdrawal was officially announced by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the tournament’s organizer, yesterday.
“I’m surprised I even made it to the semis,” Tai told reporters. “Now, I’m just trying my best to go as far as I can. I’ll see a physician after returning to Taiwan and hope it’s not too serious.”
Photo: AFP
Tai is ranked 18th on the BWF World Tour Rankings, with the top eight players to qualify for the BWF World Tour Finals in December.
The Japan Open was Tai’s first tournament since being eliminated by Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand at the Paris Olympics on July 31. It is also the fourth event the Taiwanese star has withdrawn from this year.
Despite her withdrawal, Tai’s semi-final finish is expected to boost her ranking to world No. 3 in the latest standings, especially given the absence of the top three players — An Se-young of South Korea, Chen Yufei of China and Carolina Marin of Spain.
In the men’s singles, Chou was on the verge of securing a long-awaited high-level title after his semi-final victory.
The Taiwanese ace, now ranked world No. 10, cruised past Japan’s world No. 8 Kodai Naraoka 21-14, 21-16 in 55 minutes.
It was Chou’s fifth victory over the 23-year-old rising star, who has yet to defeat him.
The win represents a huge step for the 34-year-old veteran, who was diagnosed with early-stage colorectal cancer early last year.
Victory secured his first final berth at a high-level tournament in two years.
Chou has reached two previous finals this year, both at Super 300 tournaments. He also won the Thailand Masters title in February.
His last appearance at a Super 750 or higher final was at the 2022 Japan Open, at which he finished runner-up.
Chou faces France’s Alex Lanier in the final today. The 19-year-old, ranked world No. 24, upset world No. 1 Shi Yuqi of China 17-21, 24-15, 21-19 to reach the final.
In the mixed doubles, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet eliminated Yang Po-hsuan and Hu Ling-fang of Taiwan 21-18, 15-21, 21-19.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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