Badminton-China’s top seed Shi sets up All England semi-final with compatriot Li

BIRMINGHAM, England, – Chinese men’s top seed Shi Yuqi overcame Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew 21-18 21-16 at the All England Open on Friday to set up a semi-final with compatriot Li Shifeng, who saw off India’s Lakshya Sen.

Shi trailed 11-8 in the opening game but the 2018 winner and world number one showed composure to come through and both he and Li are the only two seeded players left.

Their meeting will be a repeat of the final two years ago.

Sixth seed Li, who triumphed in 2023, faced Sen, who had knocked out reigning champion Jonatan Christie in the previous round, and had little trouble in securing a 21-10 21-16 win, despite needing medical attention for his bleeding fingers.

The other semi-final will feature France’s Alex Lanier, who beat Taiwan’s Wang Tzu-wei 21-19 21-13, and Lee Chia-hao of Taiwan who defeated Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto 21-9 21-18.

It was a different story in the women’s draw, where the top four seeds all made it safely through to the semi-finals.

Number one seed An Se-young of South Korea dispatched the only unseeded player left in the women’s draw, Chen Yufei, with a 21-9 21-14 win, having also beaten her to win the 2023 title.

An, beaten finalist last year, will face Japanese third seed Akane Yamaguchi, who defeated compatriot Tomoka Miyazaki 26-24 21-16. Yamaguchi won in 2022, beating An in the final.

China’s second seed Wang Zhiyi overcame Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-16 21-12 and will meet fourth-seeded compatriot Han Yue who beat fifth seed Gregoria Tunjung of Indonesia 21-15 21-17.

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