BADMINTON/Shuttler Chou Tien-chen advances to China Open men's singles final

Taipei, July 26 (CNA) Taiwan's Chou Tien-chen (周天成) defeated compatriot Lin Chun-yi (林俊易) in straight games on Saturday to advance to the men's singles final at the China Open badminton tournament.

World No. 6 Chou won 21-18, 21-17 to reach his first Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour final of the season.

The 36-year-old had also reached the semifinals of last year's China Open, a Super 1000 tournament, but was denied a place in the title match by China's Shi Yuqi (石宇奇).

Chou entered Saturday's match with a 5-2 career record against the 13th-ranked Lin, including victories in their three most recent meetings.

He took control early in the opening game, building a 4-1 lead through aggressive attacks and pressure that forced errors from his left-handed opponent.

Lin later reduced the deficit to one point, but Chou steadied himself, scoring with a smash before another error from Lin sealed the game 21-18.

Chou relied on disciplined defense in the second game to blunt Lin's powerful attack and capitalized on his opponent's inconsistent shot control to put together several scoring runs.

Although Lin pulled level after the midgame interval, Chou again held firm under pressure and induced further errors to close out the match 21-17.

The win was Chou's second major result in as many days. He stunned world No. 1 Shi 21-14, 12-21, 21-15 in Friday's quarterfinal, ending a nine-match losing streak against the Chinese player.

Lin, who won the All England Open in March, had reached the semifinals by defeating China's Weng Hongyang (翁泓陽) 27-25, 21-14.

Chou will face world No. 16 Toma Junior Popov of France in Sunday's final as he seeks his first title of the season and second career championship at a BWF Super 1000 event.

A victory would also extend Chou's streak of winning at least one tournament title to five consecutive years.

The China Open is being held at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, from July 21-26.