Chou to meet Antonsen in Indonesia Open final as top two seeds exit
Paris 2024 Olympics - Badminton - Men's Singles Quarterfinals - Porte de La Chapelle Arena, Paris, France - August 02, 2024. Tien Chen Chou of Taiwan in action during the match against Lakshya Sen of India. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
Chou to meet Antonsen in Indonesia Open final as top two seeds exit
Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan beat world number one Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-16 23-21 in the Indonesia Open in Jakarta on Saturday to set up a final against Anders Antonsen, who defeated defending champion Shi Yuqi.
Second seed Vitidsarn shot out of the blocks in both games and racked up 5-1 leads but the 35-year-old Chou showed great resilience, fighting back to secure a spot in his first final since last month's Taipei Open.
China's Shi began his semi-final strongly, taking the first game 21-9, while third-seeded Antonsen was much more competitive in the second game and pounced on a string of errors from the top seed to wrest control of the match.
Shi had the lead early in the tight third game but Antonsen rose to the challenge to win 9-21 21-18 21-19 -- his first victory over the two-times Asian Games gold medallist since January 2024.
In the women's draw, top seed An Se-young of South Korea faced third-seeded Akane Yamaguchi, the second time the pair had met in the semi-finals of a Super 1000 tournament this year.
Much like their meeting at the All England Open in March, reigning Olympic champion An held off her Japanese opponent to win 21-18 21-17 and secure a spot in the Indonesia Open final for a third time in her career.
An will come up against Wang Zhiyi in Sunday's final after the Chinese world number two beat compatriot Han Yue 21-12 21-13 in 39 minutes. REUTERS
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