BADMINTON/Chou Tien-chen loses in India Open men's singles quarterfinals

Taipei, Jan. 17 (CNA) Taiwan's World No. 9 men's badminton player Chou Tien-chen (周天成) lost in the quarterfinal of the India Open men's singles Friday to Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu (李卓耀) 21-15, 21-8 in 39 minutes.

The 35-year-old Chou and his 28-year-old opponent were locked in a back-and-forth battle early in the first game, but following a timeout with the scores tied, Lee pulled ahead and held on to take the first game 21-15.

In the second game, the Taiwan ace's pace fell, allowing Lee to take a huge lead early 2-12.

Chou then re-found his form a little and worked hard to close the gap but to no avail, losing the game 8-21 and bowing out of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 750 event, which is being held in New Delhi from Jan. 14-19.

The quarterfinal match was the 14th time Chou has faced Lee, with a career head-to-head of 9-4 in Chou's favor going into the match