Spain's Carolina Marin hits a return during her women's singles semi-final match against China's Chen Yufei at the Badminton World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, in China's eastern Zhejiang province on Saturday, December 16, 2023. - AFP
BEIJING (AFP): Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen and previous world number one Tai Tzu-ying earned appearances in deciding men's and women's singles matchups following wins Saturday at the badminton World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China.
Axelsen cruised to a semi-final victory over fellow Dane Anders Antonsen in two games settled with scores of 21-9 and 21-14.
The result means the 2022 World Championships winner will face Shi Yuqi of China -- the World Tour Finals 2018 champion -- in the deciding men's singles matchup on Sunday.
Saturday's play saw Shi defeat Indonesia's Jonatan Christie in two games with scores of 21-16 and 21-15.
In the women's singles competition, world number four Tai of Taiwan defied the odds in a hard-fought comeback against world number one An Se-young of South Korea, overcoming a first-game loss to win 19-21, 21-15, 22-20.
Tai will go on to engage Spain's Carolina Marin in the deciding matchup Sunday.
Marin clinched her spot after defeating fellow Olympic champion Chen Yufei of China 21-17, 19-21, 21-13 in Saturday's semi-final women's singles pairing.
The tournament's proceedings also saw the women's and men's doubles teams from China and South Korea all advance to the two deciding matchups scheduled for Sunday.
pfc/mtp
