Hong Kong, Sept 14 (UNI) Two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark beat Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei to reach the semifinals of the Hong Kong Open badminton championships.
Axelsen, playing his first tournament on Friday after retaining his Olympic crown in Paris, trailed 4-6 early on but soon proved too good for the sixth-seeded Chou, winning 21-15, 21-14 after 48 minutes.
The Dane extended his head-to-head record against Chou to 19 wins and four defeats. He will next play Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, who triumphed 21-17, 14-21, 21-18 over local player Jason Gunawan.
The other men's singles semifinal will be played between China's Lei Lanxi and defending champion Jonatan Christie of Indonesia. Lei edged Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong, China while Christie saw off Kodai Naraoka in a similar three-game thriller.
On the women's side, third seed Han Yue of China rallied past Japanese Aya Ohori 17-21, 21-9, 21-15, setting up a semifinal showdown against Pornpawee Chochuwong, who shocked sixth seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan in an all-Thai affair.
Thai veteran Ratchanok Intanon fell to Japan's Tomoka Miyazaki while Indonesia's Putri Kusuma Wardani breezed past Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark. Miyazaki and Wardani will fight for the other final spot.
UNI/XINHUA BM