Shuttler Lin Chun-yi advances to semifinals at Orléans Masters

Taipei, March 8 (CNA) Taiwanese shuttler Lin Chun-yi (林俊易) bested his countryman Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) to advance to the men's singles semifinals at the Orléans Masters in France on Friday.

It took Lin, ranked 14th in the world by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), 59 minutes to beat Lee 18-21, 22-20, 21-12 in the quarterfinals.

Before the match opened at the Palais des Sports arena, Lin had won all three games in their five previous encounters, the last time being at the Taipei Open in 2024.

In the opener, despite getting off to a good start by leading 8-3, Lin quickly lost momentum and allowed his opponent to score consecutive points to seize the first game.

Lin bounced back in the second game to tie the match 1-1.

In the third, he kept playing aggressively and only gave away 12 points before shutting down Lee with a victory.

Lin will next face Ayush Shetty of India in the semifinals.

The Orléans Masters, which opened on Tuesday, is being held until Sunday.

(By Huang Chiao-wen and Ko Lin)

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