Odense: Women’s singles No. 1 seed and Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain fought through grueling 82 minutes three-set thriller before going down to No. 8 Akane Yamaguchi in the Denmark Open semi-finals on Saturday.
Marin lost a seesaw struggle in the first set with 15-21. She was able to recompose herself, regaining control at 17-17 to triumph in second set with 21-19.
However, Yamaguchi’s aggressive game plan and her relentless accuracy playing style allowed her to beat the Spaniard 21-18 in the decider to reach the Denmark Open final.
In other women’s singles semi-finals, No. 5 seed Tai Tzu Ying was stretched to the limit by unseeded Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong before edging a 21-13, 20-22, 21-18 victory against the Hong Kong player in 61 minutes.
In women’s doubles, No. 1 seeds Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi of Japan were in sizzling forms as they dashed past unseeded Puttita Supajirakul/Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand 21-17, 21-11 in 37 minutes. Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi and No. 2 seeds Jung Kyung Eun/Shin Seung Chan from Korea will play off for the women’s doubles crown on Sunday. Jung/Shin defeated Nitya Krishinda Maheswari/Greysia Polii of Indonesia 21-13, 26-24 in the semi-finals.
