Kuala Lumpur: Thailand’s World No. 9 Kunlavut Vitidsarn was excited that he’s one step closer to meeting his idol, Lee Chong Wei – the badminton legend from Malaysia, after advancing to the semi-finals of the 2023 Malaysia Open on Friday.
The 21-year-old Vitidsarn defeated Singapore’s 2021 World Champion, Loh Kean Yew 21-11, 20-22, 21-14 in a thrilling 80 minutes quarter-final battle on Friday. Although Loh lost the match, he did show a strong fighting spirit to come back from 0-7 in the second set to eventually be able to force a decider.
This was the first time Vitidsarn advanced to the semi-finals of a BWF World Tour Super 1000 event, and he couldn’t hide his excitement when his chances of meeting Lee Chong Wei were getting bigger.
“If I can meet Lee Chong Wei, the first thing I will do is take a picture with him!” said Vitidsarn.
When he was asked whether his style of play was similar to Lee Chong Wei, Vitidsarn shook his head and was very shy when he realized people were comparing him with his idol.
(video: sinchew.com.my)
“Please don’t compare me with him, he’s much better than me. He played very strong offense, while I am more of a defensive and then counter-attack player,” added Vitidsarn.
Vitidsarn also told reporters that he will work hard to follow in the footsteps of his idol and become a top player.
Although Lee had retired from professional badminton, he was invited as the award presenter in the last two editions of the Malaysia Open (2019, 2022).
Vitidsarn will meet World No. 7 Kodai Naraoka of Japan in the semi-finals, while Viktor Axelsen will take on another Japanese player, World No. 26 Kanta Tsuneyama for a place in the final.
In men’s doubles, Malaysia’s World No. 7 Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi lost the quarter-finals 21-14, 16-21, 17-21 at the hands of the World No. 1 pair from Indonesia, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto in 75 minutes after starting the competition with full of positivity in front of the home fans.
Alfian/Ardianto will take on Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae of Korea in the top half of the bracket while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty of India will cross swords with Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang of China in another men’s doubles semi-final.
Below are the women’s singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles semi-final matches which will take place at the Axiata Arena on Saturday:
Women’s Singles:
Chen Yu Fei (China) vs. An Se Young (Korea)
Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) vs. Tai Tzu Ying (Taiwan)
Women’s Doubles:
Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan (China) vs. Apriyani Rahayu/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti (Indonesia)
Zhang Shu Xian/Zheng Yu (China) vs. Baek Ha Na/Lee Yu Lim (Korea)
Mixed Doubles:
Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino (Japan) vs. Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Thailand)
Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong (China) vs. Dejan Ferdinansyah/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (Indonesia)
