BADMINTON/Chou Tien-chen clinches World Tour Finals semis spot

Taipei, Dec. 14 (CNA) Chou Tien-chen (周天成) advanced to the men's singles semifinals at the BWF World Tour Finals on Friday by upsetting top-seeded Anders Antonsen of Denmark in a must-win match in China.

The 16-21, 21-18, 21-15 victory at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium saw Chou secure his second semifinal appearance at the tournament despite his relatively older age.

Chou, whose age of 34 makes him the oldest among the eight players in men's singles, finished with a bronze medal in the 2020 edition. He also participated in the World Tour Finals in 2018, 2019, and 2022.

The tournament invites the top eight players and pairs in each category, dividing them into two groups of four.

Chou, competing in Group A, had lost to Malaysian ace Lee Zii Jia (李梓嘉) and China's Li Shifeng (李詩灃) on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. However, he was given a chance to advance after Lee withdrew from his match against Li earlier on Friday due to an injury.

Lee was forced to retire despite winning the first game 22-20 and leading 15-11 in the second.

Lee's withdrawal, combined with Antonsen's victory over Li, turned Friday's match between Chou and Antonsen into a win-or-go-home decider for Chou.

Chou and Antonsen split the first two games, with the score tied seven times in the deciding game before either player reached nine points.

From there, Chou maintained his lead and secured the win with ease, pulling off a decisive 5-0 run after Antonsen had closed the gap to 15-14.

Friday marked the conclusion of the group stage, with Antonsen and Chou finishing first and second in Group A, while China's world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) and Jonatan Christie of Indonesia advanced from Group B.

Chou and Shi, who was named the BWF Men's Singles Player of the Year, will battle for a spot in the finals on Saturday.

According to BWF records, Chou trails Shi 4-9 in their head-to-head meetings and has lost their last three encounters.

Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, who won the Paris Olympics gold this summer, won the men's singles championship in the last three editions of the World Tour Finals.

However, he was unable to extend that streak as he decided to pull out of the tournament earlier this month due to a left foot injury.