Basel: Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen enjoyed one of the biggest triumphs of his career by defeating World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen 21-10, 21-15 in the semi-finals of the Swiss Open on Saturday.
Highlights of Chou Tien Chen vs. Viktor Axelsen in Swiss Open semi-finals:
The World No. 6 Chou will play World No. 37 Koki Watanabe of Japan in the final.
Watanabe himself also pulled off an upset on Saturday by beating World No. 4 Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia 21-11, 21-14 in just 27 minutes.
Lee seemed to have sustained a leg injury when battling Lee Chia Hao of Taiwan in the quarter-finals.
Highlights of Lee Zii Jia vs. Koki Watanabe in Swiss Open semi-finals:
In men’s doubles, Malaysia’s World No. 8 Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi put up a spirited fight but wasn’t strong enough to topple World No. 6 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty of India by going down 19-21, 21-17, 17-21.
Rankireddy/Shetty will meet World No. 21 Ren Xiang Yu/Tan Qiang of China in the final.
Despite the disappointment in both men’s singles and men’s doubles, Malaysia’s mixed doubles World No. 11 Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai withstood a strong challenge from World No. 12 Robin Tabeling/Selena Piek of Netherlands 21-14, 23-21 to advance to the final.
They will face World No. 33 Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin for the Swiss Open title.
Below are other Swiss Open final actions on Sunday:
Women’s Doubles:
Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota vs. Rena Miyaura/Ayako Sakuramoto
Women’s Singles:
Mia Blichfeldt vs. Pornpawee Chochuwong
