Taipei Times
Date: September 12, 2015
By: CNA

TAIPEI — Taiwanese badminton aces Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) and Chou Tien-chen (周天成) advanced to the semifinals of their respective singles events at the Yonex Open Japan on Friday.

Tai, ranked third in the world in women’s singles and seeded fourth in the Tokyo tournament, upended Chinese rival and sixth-seed Wang Yihan (王儀涵) 21-18, 17-21, 21-13 in 55 minutes in their quarterfinal showdown.

Entering the match, Tai had a 3-2 advantage in head-to-head play against Wang, according to the Badminton World Federation website, but there was little to separate the players in the first two games.

It was not until early in the third game, when Tai ran off five straight points at 4-4, that she gained a clear edge over her Chinese opponent and never looked back.

Tai will face world No. 9 Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the semifinals on Saturday. She has won both matches she has played against Okuhara.     [FULL  STORY]