NEW DELHI, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shuttler Wang Zhiyi and world No. 1 An Se-young of South Korea both clinched straight-game wins in the badminton India Open here on Saturday, advancing to the women's singles final.
The tournament has drawn widespread attention due to health, environment and temperature issues, with several top players absent, including China's Shi Yuqi, Li Shifeng and Jia Yifan, as well as Danish stars Viktor Axelsen and Anders Antonsen.
In the women's singles semifinals, second seed Wang upset compatriot Chen Yufei 21-15, 23-21, reaching the final for the second consecutive tournament after last week's Malaysia Open. This marks Wang's second victory over 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion Chen in international competition.
"For me, every match is a new start. I just try to stay at the moment," Wang said afterward.
She will next challenge top seed An, who needed only 32 minutes to beat Thai veteran Ratchanok Intanon 21-11, 21-7.
The men's singles final will feature Indonesia's Jonatan Christie against Lin Chun-yi of Chinese Taipei after they defeated Singapore's Loh Kean Yew and Canada's Victor Lai, respectively.
In the women's doubles, young Chinese pair Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning, seeded first, overcame South Korea's Baek Ha-na/Lee So-hee 21-12, 17-21, 21-14 to advance. They will next take on Japanese duo Yuki Fukushima/Mayu Matsumoto.
China also secured a place in the men's doubles final after fourth seeds Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang eliminated South Korea's Kang Min-hyuk/Ki Dong-ju 22-20, 21-18.
In the mixed doubles, Chinese pairs Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping and Jiang Zhenbang/Wei Yaxin both fell in three games, losing to Thailand's Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Supissara Paewsampran and Denmark's Mathias Christiansen/Alexandra Boje, respectively. ■
