HYDERABAD, India (AP) — Second-seeded Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia rallied to beat Kuan Beng Hong of Malaysia 17-21, 21-17, 21-19 Friday to advance to the semifinals of the India Open badminton tournament.
Hidayat wins to reach India Open semifinals
Hidayat, a former Olympic and world champion, will play Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia, who defeated Tan Chung Seang of Malaysia 13-21, 21-18, 21-9.
Chen Long of China downed eighth-seeded Lee Tsuen Seng of Malaysia 21-15, 21-8 and will play Muhammad Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia, who edged Andre Kurniawan Tedjono of Indonesia 21-18, 14-21, 21-16.
Chen, a former junior world champion who upset top-ranked Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the first round, is delighted with his form.
“It was a good start for me to start by beating the world No. 1, and now I know everyone is watching my moves,” Chen said. “I feel I’ve got a strong chance of taking this title. I’m focused on my job in the court.”
In women’s singles, top-seeded Pi Hong Yan of France struggled before clinching a 22-20, 18-21, 21-14 win against Xia Jing Yun of China, who was playing her first Grand Prix Gold event.
Pi’s opponent in Saturday’s semifinals will be Yu Hirayama of Japan, who beat Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia 21-1, 21-18.
Second-seeded Saina Nehwal of India slumped to a 12-21, 21-13, 21-14 loss to Malaysia’s Julia Pei Xian Wong, who now plays Zhang Bei Wen of China after his 22-20, 21-9 win against Lydia Li Ya Cheah of Malaysia.
