Tai Tzu Ying stormed into her third successive semifinals of the PETRONAS Malaysia Open after easing past her quarterfinal rival with a dominant display at Axiata Arena today.
The four-time Malaysia Open winner headed into the match with a huge advantage of winning 13 out of their 17 previous encounters, sealed her spot after defeating world No.6 He Bing Jiao of China 21-16, 21-15 in just 37 minutes.
Tai, who kept intact her record of never losing a quarterfinal match in the Malaysia Open, meets arch-rival and world No.2 Chen Yu Fei tomorrow, a repeat of the 2022 semifinal encounter which the Chinese ace won in three sets. Last year, Tai lost out to eventual champion Akane Yamaguchi in the semifinals.
Chen joined the last four with a commanding display to defeat Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 21-13, 21-17. A losing semi finalist in last year’s BWF World Tour Finals, Chen will be looking to end China’s women’s singles drought in the tournament since Li Xueru’s last victory in 2014.
In the mixed doubles, Kim Win Ho-Jeong Na Eun made a huge step forward in their Malaysia Open title hunt as they ousted world No. 1 Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong of China to storm into their first semifinals in the tournament tomorrow.
It was a thrilling battle between the two top pairs with Kim-Jeong surprisingly taking the first game 21-11 in just 12 minutes before Zheng/Huang clawed back strongly in the second with 21-18 to force a rubber game.
The third game saw the Koreans stretching the Chinese pair to the limit before sealing the match with 21-17 in a 57-minute battle.
Kim-Jeong will now meet surprise winner Terry Yee Hong Kai-Jessica Tan Wei Han of Singapore who carved their history of qualifying for a Super 1000 tournament for the first time.
World No. 22 Yee-Tan put up a spirited display to down sixth seed Deechapol Puavanarukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai 21-16, 21-19 in 48 minutes.
In another mixed doubles quarter-final tie, China’s Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin notched their first win over world No. 3 Korean pair Seo Seung Jae-Chae Yu Jung to progress into the semifinals.
The Chinese world No.5 pair will square off against second seed Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino who marched into the semifinals after ousting compatriot Hiroki Midorikawa/Natsu Saito 21-14, 21-8.
QUARTERFINAL RESULTS (Morning Session)
WOMEN’S SINGLES:
Chen Yu Fei (CHN) bt Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (INA) 21-13, 21-17
Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe) bt He Bing Jiao (CHN) 21-16, 21-15
MIXED DOUBLES:
Kim Won Ho/Jeong Na Eun (KOR) bt Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong (CHN) 21-11, 18-21, 21-17
Terry Hee Yong Kai/Jessica Tan Wei Han (SGP) bt Deechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai (THA) 21-16, 21-19
Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin (CHN) bt Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yu Jung (KOR) 21-19, 21-14
Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino (JPN) bt Hiroki Midorikawa/Natsu Saito (JPN) 21-14, 21-8
