Japan make breathtaking strides in men’s singles

JAPAN have been the revelation in the men’s singles as Kanta Tsuneyama and Kodai Naraoka continued their giantkilling run in the tournament by storming into the semi-finals at the Axiata Arena yesterday.

Unseeded Tsuneyama, who had dispatched off Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu and world No. 5 Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan in his earlier rounds, stunned world No. 4 Anthony Ginting of Indonesia 21-14, 21-16 in the last eight.

“Ginting in the highest-ranked player I have beaten in my career but I am not satisfied with this achievement. I’m happy but I want to do well in the semi-finals,” said Tsuneyama.

“All the Japanese players are performing well and it is good for our team.”

Naraoka, who eliminated world No. 2 Lee Zii Jia in the first round and world No. 25 Ng Tze Yong in the second round, outplayed India’s Thomas Cup hero H.S. Prannoy 21-16, 19-21, 21-10 to reach the last four.

The world No. 7 will meet Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who defeated former world champion from Singapore Loh Kean Yew 21-11, 20-22, 21-14.

Defending champion and red-hot favourite Viktor Axelsen of Denmark is wary of the threat from Tsuneyama and will not take the world No. 26 for granted.

Axelsen was in sublime form in the last eight clash against another Japanese shuttler Kenta Nishimoto as the Dane chalked up a one-sided 21-6, 21-12 win in 38 minutes.

The Dane was fully rested after he received a walkover from Malaysian Liew Daren in the second round on Thursday.

“It was a different situation for me as I had two days of rest and physically I felt 100% fresh but I think Nishimoto had two matches of high pace and was a little tired,” said Axelsen.

“No match is easy. Today, I had the upper hand, I moved well and felt really comfortable.

“I think it will be a challenging match. I always go into the match with full respect for my opponent and tomorrow (today) will be no different. I have to play well to win.”