Kimchi power still strong in Sudirman Cup

An Se-young (L) of South Korea shakes hands with Akane Yamaguchi of Japan after their women's singles match at the 2023 Sudirman Cup world badminton championships. - AFP Pic

 JIANGSU: South Korea showed why they are still a force to be reckoned with in the Sudirman Cup despite no longer parading star shuttlers.

The four-time winners powered into their second successive semi-final today after triumphing 3-1 over Taiwan at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre.

World No 5 Seo Seung Jae-Chae Yu Jung drew first blood when they defeated Yang Po Hsuan-Hu Ling Fang 21-17, 21-19 in 43 minutes.

As expected, Taiwan's men's singles ace Chou Tien Chen swiftly put his side back on track by powering past unheralded world No 213 Lee Yun Gyu 21-17, 21-16.

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Taiwan's hopes for securing a crucial women's singles point through Tai Tzu Ying proved futile as the recently-crowned Asian champion was beaten 21-13, 22-20 by the ultra-talented An Se Young.

The win saw world No 2 Se Young exact sweet revenge on Tzu Ying after being pipped by the world No 3 in the final Asia Championships in Dubai more than two weeks ago.

Se Young's victory paved the way for scratch combination Kim Won Ho-Na Sung Seung to seal the deal after their opponents Lee Yang-Ye Hong Wei threw in the towel in the middle of the second game.

Lee Yang had injured his ankle at the end of the first game, where the Koreans won 21-19, but decided to play on.

South Korea will face either Malaysia or Denmark in the last four.

The Koreans are bidding to reach their first final in the tournament in six years. The last time they did, they stunned China to lift the prestigious trophy for the fourth time.

Also through to the semi-finals were Japan who had to dig deep into their reserves to oust Thailand 3-2 with Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi emerging heroes when they delivered the winning point against scratch pair Kittinupong Kedren-Dechapol Puavanukroh.

Hoki-Kobayashi held their nerves to seal a thrilling 19-21, 21-10, 21-18 win to send Japan to their fifth straight semi-finals.


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