BADMINTON/Chou Tien-chen bags second Badminton Asia Championships bronze in men's singles

Taipei, April 11 (CNA) Taiwan's top male shuttler Chou Tien-chen (周天成) secured his second Badminton Asia Championships bronze medal on Saturday after a straight-game loss to China's world No. 2 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) in the men's singles semifinals in Ningbo.

World No. 6 Chou fell to Shi 21-9, 21-13 in 44 minutes, marking his 15th loss in 20 career meetings with the Chinese player.

Chou trailed for most of the match and only drew level once in each game. His best chance came in Game 2, when he erased a five-point deficit to tie at 10-10, before Shi responded with an 11-3 run to close out the match.

Despite the loss, the 36-year-old became the first Taiwanese male player to win two bronze medals at the tournament, having previously done so in 2019.

All Taiwanese players had been eliminated from the tournament as of Saturday.