Home favourite Akane Yamaguchi reaches Japan Open badminton final; edges arch-rival Yufei in three sets again

Akane Yamaguchi of Japan hits a return against Chen Yufei of China during their women's singles semi-final match on day five of the Japan Open badminton tournament in Osaka on Saturday, September 3, 2022. - AFP

OSAKA (Japan), Sept 3, 2022 (AFP): World badminton champion Akane Yamaguchi beat China's Chen Yufei to reach the final of the Japan Open on Saturday, then thanked the home fans for getting her over the line.

Top seed Yamaguchi, who retained her world title last week in Tokyo, edged Chen 15-21, 21-16, 24-22 in Osaka after a tense encounter in which both players had match points.