BIRMINGHAM, England, March 7 : Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi stunned Thai second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-14 18-21 21-16 in the All England Open semi-finals on Saturday and faces India’s Lakshya Sen in the showpiece match.
Sen, 24, booked his place in the final after overcoming Canada’s Victor Lai 21-16 18-21 21-15, recovering well after dropping the second game.
With defending champion and top seed Shi Yuqi knocked out in the opening round by Sen, the men’s draw at the Super 1,000 event opened up early. Danish second seed Anders Antonsen also exited in the first round.
The women’s field, however, remains dominated by its heavyweights. Defending champion and top seed An Se-young of South Korea, along with Wang Zhiyi, Chen Yufei and Akane Yamaguchi, all advanced to the semis.
An meets Chen later on Saturday, while Yamaguchi takes on Wang in the other last-four clash.
In mixed doubles, Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan reached the final, where they will play France’s Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue.
