Paris: The French Open women’s singles semi-finals is headlined by the return of the formidable “big four” of South Korea’s An Se-young, China’s Chen Yufei, Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, and Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, marking the 8th time that these four have reached the semi-finals since the beginning of the BWF world tour. This is simply unbelievable badminton excellence, and as WF broadcaster Gill Clark puts it on International Women’s Day, the achievements these players have showcased is a tremendous nod to the vibrant history, accomplishments, and achievements of these remarkable athletes, and is just a general showcase of how excellent women’s singles badminton has been.
For starters, Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying has continued her dominant run by securing a victory in the quarterfinals against Japan’s World No. 13 Aya Ohori by scores of 21-17 and 21-10. Currently ranked as the World No.3, Tai Tzu-ying is set to face South Korea’s “badminton queen” and World rank No. 1 An Se-young in the semi-finals, aiming to reach her third finals match this season.
Highlights of Tai Tzu Ying vs. Aya Ohori in the 2024 French Open quarterfinals:
However, for either side, this will be a hard fought match. Although An Se-young, coming off a victory against China’s He Bingjiao with scores of 21-18, 21-16, is on a seven-game winning streak against Tai Tzu-ying, Tai Tzu-ying has potentially been working on minimizing her errors and capitalizing on her speed and stability, and so far her season has been absolutely dominant.
Tai Tzu-ying’s unbelievable season has consisted of many tournaments level 750 and above, and although she faced a tough loss at the Super 1000 Malaysia Open final in January against An Se-young, she managed to bounce back at the Super 750 India Open, securing her first championship of the season by defeating the reigning 2024 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist, China’s Chen Yufei.
And looking a bit more specifically at the tournament itself, the French Open holds special significance for Tai Tzu-ying , seeing as she was the 2017 champion and also the runner-up last year. And with this trend of success, perhaps this may be the time for Tai Tzu-ying to snap An Se-young’s winning streak.
However, as for the rest of the tournament:
In men’s doubles, Malaysia’s pair of Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik lost to the reigning world champions Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae of Korea by scores of 19-21, 16-21.
Now, Kang/Seung will take on Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty of India on Saturday, while Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi of Japan will battle Lee Jhe-Huei/Yang Po-Hsuan of Taiwan, with all four teams vying for a ticket to the finals.
As for the men’s singles semi-finals, Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand will play Lakshya Sen of India, while Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia will meet the formidable Shi Yu Qi of China. Overall, the French Open has immensely exciting games for all who want to watch it and perhaps the outcomes will shock the world.