Badminton: Olympic champion An Se-young reaches BWF World Tour Finals semis

Hangzhou (China), Dec 13 (IANS) Paris Olympic champion An Se-young of South Korea booked her spot in the women's singles semifinals of the 2024 BWF World Tour Finals here on Friday. After losing to Japanese ace Akane Yamaguchi on Thursday in Group B, An enjoyed a comfortable 21-11, 21-15 win over China's Han Yue to progress. The latter also qualified for the semis with two wins.

Japan's Aya Ohori and China's Wang Zhiyi also reached the last four from Group A, reports Xinhua.

In the men's singles, Denmark's Anders Antonsen and Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen progressed to the semifinals from Group A, while home favourite Shi Yuqi and Indonesia's Jonatan Christie made the last four from Group B.

Elsewhere, Olympic champions Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China secured a semifinal place in the mixed doubles event, while Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan cruised to the women's doubles semifinals.

"I've kept my promise to get into semis. I hope all my fans could enjoy 'our last dance'," said Zheng, who announced in November that he would retire from international competition after the BWF World Tour Finals.

China had clinched both women's doubles and mixed doubles titles at the 2023 BWF World Tour Finals while Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei and Viktor Axelsen of Denmark took the women's and men's singles.

In the women's doubles final, defending champions Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan of China encountered little challenge from South Korean duo Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee before claiming their 21-16, 21-16 victory.

Mixed doubles world No. 1 Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China defended their title with a straight-game victory 21-11, 21-18 over compatriots Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping.

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