Odense: Japan’s World No. 1 Kento Momota continued to rule Denmark Open as he finished his quarter-final match in style, brushing aside Khosit Phetpradab of Thailand 21-13, 21-9 in 37 minutes.
The 24 year-old Japanese will face World No. 6 Kidambi Srikanth of India in the semi-finals.
Srikanth, on the other hand, survived a surprise test on Friday before making the semi-finals, when he had to dig deep to edge past compatriot Sameer Verma 22-20, 19-21, 23-21 in a 78-minutes battle.
The unseeded Dane player Anders Antonsen who upset No. 1 seed Viktor Axelsen on Thursday, lived dangerously against Huang Yuxiang before saving four match points to rally from behind to beat Huang 21-14, 13-21, 22-20 in the quarter-final. Antonsen will be up against No. 4 seed Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan in the last four.
In women’s singles, No. 1 seed Tai Tzu Ying extended her career winning streak against No. 6 seed Chen Yufei of China to 10-0 as she came from a set down to score her 10th victory over Chen 21-13, 12-21, 21-9 in 47 minutes.
Tai earned herself a chance of revenge against He Bingjiao of China on Saturday. Tai experienced her most disappointing defeat of 2018 in August, where she was beaten by He in the quarter-final of World Championships in Nanjing after her 31 match winning streak of the season.
Saina Nehwal will take on Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia in other women’s singles semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s challenge at the Denmark Open ended after its two mixed doubles pairs fizzled out of the tournament on Friday.
Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying were sent packing by Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yujung of Korea 14-21, 21-17, 12-21 while Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai were struggling for consistency, never able to recover from their first set loss by going down to Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai 14-21, 11-21.
