BADMINTON/Taiwan shuttlers reach men's doubles semis at Korea Open

Taipei, Aug. 30 (CNA) Taiwanese Olympic gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤) advanced to the men's doubles semifinals at the Korea Open after beating Kim Gi-jung and Kim Sa-rang from the host country 21-16, 21-16.

The Taiwanese badminton duo won their quarterfinal match in 30 minutes at the Super 500 tournament at Mokpo Indoor Stadium in Seoul, setting up a semifinal battle against another South Korean duo and the tournament's top seeds, Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae.

Speaking with CNA, Wang said Chiu played very well on Friday, taking many chances during the rallies to pressure their Korean opponents.

"(Friday) could be his best performance since we partnered up," Wang said of Chiu.

Chiu is Wang's new partner after the latter's two-time Olympian gold medal partner Lee Yang (李洋) announced plans to retire after the Taipei Open next month.

Wang said Friday that when he partnered with Lee, it was Lee who set up the points, especially near the net, and kept the two of them organized on court, but now those responsibilities have fallen on his shoulders, and he was still trying to get used to the new role.

The duo opened with a fairly comfortable win in the first game, running off five consecutive points to take a 12-5 lead and then maintaining a lead of at least four points the rest of the way.

The second game offered more suspense. With the score tied at 12, Wang and Chiu ran off five straight points to go up 17-12, but the Koreans pulled within 18-16 before the Taiwanese closed them out, winning the last three points of the match.

When partnering with Lee, the taller Wang was known for his smashes from the back of the court. Chiu, however, is also relatively tall and more proficient at hitting smashes than playing around the net.

Wang said that in their matches Thursday and Friday, "our opponents really started playing to our weaknesses in the second game."

"But they did not get the best of us today. Even if they didn't hit high lobs, we were still able to compete with them rallying back and forth," Wang said.