Taiwan's Chou edged out of BWF World Championships

Taipei, Aug. 24 (CNA) Taiwanese badminton ace Chou Tien-chen (周天成) failed to reach the semifinals of the men's singles at the 2019 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships in Switzerland on Friday, losing to Thailand's Kantaphon Wangcharoen.

The world No. 2 was defeated 16-21, 21-11, 14-21 in a quarterfinal match that lasted 71 minutes.

Chou had defeated Wangcharoen in their previous four encounters dating back to August 2018.

In the first game between the two players in Switzerland, Chou opened up a 6-3 lead before an 8-8 stalemate, however, the Taiwanese failed to keep up the pressure on Wangcharoen and finished 16-21.

The 29-year-old Taiwanese jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the second game, and he protected his advantage the rest of the competition before putting his rival away.

But Chou fell behind early, trailing 2-3 in the deciding game, and ultimately failed to fend off Wangcharoen.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese men's doubles duo Liao Min-chun (廖敏竣) and Su Ching-heng (蘇敬恆) were ousted Friday in the quarterfinals by Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia 17-21, 19-21.

Taiwan's badminton star Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎), meanwhile, also saw her singles run at the BWF World Championships end Friday after falling to Pusarla V. Sindhu of India in the quarterfinals 21-13, 21-23 and 19-21.