Odense: World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen’s 39-game winning streak was snapped on Friday evening, as he fell 17-21, 10-21 to World No. 5 Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in 30 minutes.
Loh was playing with exceptional speed and very tight net shots in which Axelsen was having a hard time catching up with Loh and returning the shuttlecock to his opponent.
Although Axelsen lost the match, it was only his second defeat of the season. He lost the German Open semi-final to Lakshya Sen early this year.
Loh will meet World No. 3 Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Lee Zii Jia was stretched to the limit by World No. 7 Jonatan Christie before winning the quarter-final match 21-16, 18-21, 21-18.
Highlights of Lee Zii Jia vs. Jonatan Christie:
China’s Shi Yuqi will take on Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in another men’s semi-final on Saturday.
In men’s doubles, Malaysia’s reigning world champions Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik extended their 7 consecutive wins over India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty by beating the Indians 21-16, 21-19 in 41 minutes.
Highlights of Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik vs. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty
In the semi-finals on Saturday, they will face Marcus Fenaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia. Another Malaysian pair – World No. 9 Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi had to work hard as they needed 63 minutes to overcome scratch pair from Taiwan – Lee Yang/Lu Chen 18-21, 21-19, 21-13. Ong/Teo are set to face Indonesia’s World No. 6 Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto in the final four.
In mixed doubles, Malaysia’s World No. 13 Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Lai also advanced to the semi-finals after surprising the Japanese pair, World No. 2 Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino 21-18, 21-14. Goh/Lai will play reigning world champions Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong of China on Saturday.
