Chou Tien-chen ousted in semifinals of World Championships

Taipei, Aug. 22 (CNA) Taiwanese badminton veteran Chou Tien-chen (周天成) fell just short Saturday of becoming the oldest player to reach a badminton World Championships men's singles final, falling to Japan's Kodai Naraoka in the semifinals in New Delhi.

The 36-year-old Chou, ranked sixth in the world, won the opening game but visibly tired as the 74-minute semifinal wore on, with the 25-year-old Naraoka rallying to win 17-21, 21-11, 21-10.

Chou entered the match without having dropped a game in the tournament and held a 6-2 career advantage over the world No. 11 Japanese player. The two had split their two previous meetings this year.

Known as a more defensive player, Naraoka has worked on "becoming more explosive and forcing the pace" in recent months, according to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) website, and that was increasingly evident as the match wore on.

After overcoming an early deficit to claim the opening game, Chou struggled to keep pace with Naraoka over the final two games as his movement around the court slowed noticeably.

Naraoka pulled away after holding an 11-9 lead in the second game, conceding only two more points to force a decider.

Chou's fatigue became more apparent in the third game as Naraoka built a commanding lead. After scoring with a net kill to cut the deficit to 17-7, Chou briefly crouched near the side of the court before returning to play.

An ELTA Sports commentator covering the match noted that it was rare to see Chou so exhausted that he had to crouch beside the court.

Naraoka eventually closed out the match on his second match point.

Despite the defeat, Chou collected his second World Championships bronze medal, following his run to the semifinals in 2022. The tournament does not stage a third-place playoff, with both losing semifinalists receiving bronze medals.

Chou also made tournament history Friday by becoming the oldest player to reach a World Championships men's singles semifinal, doing so at 36 years and 225 days old.

The achievement came less than a month after he became the oldest player to win a BWF World Tour Super 1000 title by capturing the China Open crown in late July.

Chou's medal run is expected to lift him to world No. 3 when the BWF rankings are updated next week. Had he won Saturday's semifinal, he would have become Taiwan's first male badminton player to reach world No. 1 in next week's rankings, regardless of the result in Sunday's final.

Naraoka advanced to his second World Championships final and will face France's Alex Lanier on Sunday.