Khosit Phetpradab of Thailand continued his giant-killing act at the Japan Open, upsetting sixth seed and Olympic champion Chen Long 21-19, 24-22 in the quarter-finals in Tokyo yesterday. In the opening round Phetpradab had secured, arguably, the biggest win of his career when he beat World No.2 Shi Yuqi of China. In the semis, Phetpradab will face Lee Dong Keun of South Korea.
Dong Keun scored a shock win over seventh seed Kidambi Srikanth of India after a three-game encounter at the USD 700,000 tournament. The Korean won 21-19, 16-21, 18-21 that lasted an hour and 19 minutes.
With Srikanth’s exit, the Indian shuttlers’ campaign at the Japan Open came to a halt as Olympic medallist and Asian Games silver-medallist PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy crashed out in the previous rounds of the women’s and men’s singles event respectively on Thursday.
Meanwhile, men’s top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark advanced into last four. Axelsen, who is yet to drop a game in Japan, registered another comfortable 21-17, 21-15 victory over Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.
The Indonesian was in the second game at 15-14, but a run of five points ended Ginting’s hopes. World number one Axelsen will face third seed Kento Momota, who defeated Chinese star Lin Dan and the five-time World champion 21-8, 21-10.
Lin has struggled with his form in 2018 and currently finds himself down in 14th place in the world rankings, leading some to suggest retirement might be on the horizon for the 34-year-old.
In the women’s draw, fifth seed Chen Yufei of China knocked out local hopeful Akane Yamaguchi 21-13, 15-21, 21-15 in a pulsating affair.
Spanish star Carolina Marin defeated Ratchanok Intanon 21-18, 21-19 and Nozomi Okuhara eased past Chen Xiaoxin 21-17, 21-16 in other quarter-final matches.
Thailand’s Khosit Phetpradab hits a smash during his win over China’s Chen Long in the quarter-finals of the Japan Open. (AFP)
