Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen yesterday exited at the BWF World Tour Finals in China, losing in the semi-finals to China’s world No. 1 Shi Yuqi.
Shi, who was named the BWF Men’s Singles Player of the Year, had a 9-4 record against Chou going into the match. He extended that record to 9-5 with a 21-14, 21-18 victory.
Chou advanced to the men’s singles semi-finals on Friday by upsetting top-seeded Anders Antonsen of Denmark in a must-win match at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium.
Photo: AP
The 16-21, 21-18, 21-15 victory saw Chou secure his second semi-finals appearance at the tournament, despite his relatively older age.
Chou, who at 34 was the oldest among the eight players in the men’s singles, finished with a bronze medal at the 2020 edition. He also participated in the World Tour Finals in 2018, 2019 and 2022.
The tournament invites the top eight players and pairs in each category, dividing them into two groups of four.
Chou, competing in Group A, lost to Malaysian ace Lee Zii Jia and China’s Li Shifeng on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
However, Chou was given a chance to advance after Lee withdrew from his match against Li earlier on Friday due to an injury. He was forced to retire after winning the first game 22-20 and earning a 15-11 lead in the second.
Lee’s exit, combined with a win by Antonsen over Li, turned Friday’s match between Chou and Antonsen into a win-or-go-home decider for the Taiwanese.
They split the first two games, with the score tied seven times in the deciding game before either player reached nine points.
From there, Chou maintained his lead and secured the win with ease, pulling off a decisive 5-0 run after Antonsen had closed the gap to 15-14.
Friday marked the conclusion of the group stage, with Antonsen and Chou finishing first and second respectively in Group A, while Shi and Jonatan Christie of Indonesia advanced from Group B.
Antonsen and Christie were to play after press time last night.
Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, who claimed gold at the Paris Olympics, won the men’s singles championship in the past three editions of the World Tour Finals.
However, he was unable to extend that streak as he pulled out of the tournament earlier this month due to a foot injury.
None of the other Taiwanese at the tournament made the semi-finals.
In the mixed doubles Yang Po-hsuan and Hu Ling-fang had three losses in Group A, while in the men’s doubles, Lee Jhe-huei and Yang, and Wang Chi-lin and Lee Yang both had 1-2 records in Group A.
Lee Yang and Wang won the battle between the two Taiwanese pairs on day one of the competition on Wednesday, while Lee Jhe-huei and Yang defeated the eventual Group A winners, Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen of Denmark, winning 21-10, 21-19 on Friday.
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