BADMINTON/Chou Tien-chen loses BWF World Tour Finals men's singles semi

Taipei, Dec. 15 (CNA) World No. 9 badminton player Chou Tien-chen (周天成) missed out on a shot at the BWF World Tour Finals 2024 men's singles title after losing in the semifinals to China's Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) Saturday.

Shi, who went on to win Sunday's final, defeated Chou 21-14, 21-18 in Saturday's 52-minute semifinal.

Chou's last-four finish tied his previous best at the season-ending showcase set in 2020.

In Saturday's semifinal, the 34-year-old Chou and his 28-year-old opponent were locked in a back-and-forth battle early in the first game.

But after the game came to a 10-10 tie, Shi's four consecutive points widened the difference between the two before winning the game 21-14.

Early in the second game, Chou picked up his pace and depleted Shi's stamina by putting him to work with various technical shots across the court.

The Taiwan ace's strategy proved useful as Chou went ahead 10-6, but after surrendering five consecutive points due to errors, Shi established an 11-10 lead.

While the Taiwanese shuttler was able to recover slightly following a break to go level against Shi.

But another bout of mistakes while the game hit 18-19 allowed Shi to reach two game points before winning the entire match 21-18.

The Saturday semifinal was the 14th time Chou has faced off against Shi.

Throughout the years, Shi won 10 out of the duo's 14 matches, with Chou losing the last four times after Saturday.

The 2024 BWF World Tour Finals were held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium and featured a prize pool of US$2.5 million.