Fullerton: The women’s singles No. 1 seed Zhang Beiwen of USA fought back from a set down and saved six match points to secure herself a place in the US Open final.
Japan’s No. 4 seed Aya Ohori was up 1-0 in the US Open semi-final match on Saturday and stood one point away from victory when she was leading 20-14 against Zhang in the second set.
The 27-year-old Zhang showed why she was the favorite to win the title as the crowd started cheering for her, she then produced the kind of form, and several outrageous shots to reel off the next seven points before winning the second set 23-21 to send the match into a decider.
Zhang, who was also the 2018 India Open winner, overcame a seesaw beginning of third set to close out the pulsating decider 21-13 over Ohori to set up a final against the London Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China on Sunday.
Li, on the other hand, outlasted Michelle Li of Canada 21-17, 21-17 in 44 minutes.
In mixed doubles, the Rio Olympics silver medalists and fifth seeds Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying came to the court riding a hot-form to notch up a 21-16, 21-14 victory over No. 2 seeds Mark Lamsfuss/Isabel Herttrich of Germany.
Chan/Goh are set to take on another German pair No. 4 seeds Marvin Emil Seidel/Linda Efler in the final.
Unfortunately, the Malaysian women’s doubles pair of Vivian Hoo/Chow Mei Kuan who are seeking their third title as a pair after winning the Vietnam International Challenge in March and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April, couldn’t hold on to their 16-11 lead in the second set as they lost to Tang Jinhua/Yu Xiaohan 17-21, 20-22.
Tang/Yu will meet Kim Hye Jeong/Kim So Yeong of Korea on Sunday.
Meanwhile, LEE Dong Keun of Korea will play No. 6 seed Mark Caljouw of Netherlands for the men’s singles title.
