Chinese players reach four finals at Japan Open badminton

Beijing: China advanced to the finals in four out of five disciplines at the badminton Japan Open after Saturday's semifinals in Tokyo, only missing out in men's doubles.

Top Chinese men's singles player Shi Yuqi, now the highest seed remaining after the early exit of the top two seeds, secured his final berth by beating French shuttler Christo Popov.

Shi, who has experienced fluctuating form this year due to gastrointestinal issues, dominated the first game 21-12. The second game proved far tougher, with Shi saving three game points before clinching it 28-26.

Shi will face defending champion Alex Lanier of France in Sunday's final. Lanier had defeated Shi in last year's semifinals on the way to claiming his first career BWF World Tour Super 750 title.

The women's singles final will feature the tournament's top two seeds. World No. 1 An Se-young of South Korea cruised past Japan's Riko Gunji 21-12, 21-10 as she seeks her sixth title of the year. She will face China's second seed Wang Zhiyi, who defeated home favourite Akane Yamaguchi 21-15, 21-18.

In the women's doubles semifinal, China's pair of Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning defeated compatriots Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu 21-7, 21-16. They will play Malaysia's Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan for the title.

In the mixed doubles, Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin defeated Malaysia's Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei 21-12, 21-16. They will face Thailand's Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran in the final.

The men's doubles final will be contested between Malaysia's Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin and South Korea's Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae.

India's top singles players -- Lakshya Sen and PV Sindhu, along with men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, made an early exit from the Japan Open badminton tournament, as did Unnati Hooda, while Anupama Upadhyay was ousted in the second round. IANS

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