BWF Fuzhou China Open: Defending champ Chen into women's final

China's Chen Yufei competes in the women's singles semi finals match against Canada's Michelle Li at the Fuzhou China Open in Fuzhou, east China, November 9, 2019. / VCG Photo

Defending champion Chen Yufei of China booked her berth at women's singles final after a come-from-behind win against Michelle Li of Canada, while Chinese mixed doubles pairs secured the title at Fuzhou China Open in Fuzhou, east China on Saturday.

Chen missed a decisive game point and conceded the first game 20-22. However, the 21-year-old bounced back strongly in the following game by 21-8 before holding out the challenges in the decider 21-17 to register her place in the final.

"I had good perseverance, which is the key for the win. My opponent played very tough and posed great pressure on me," Chen noted.

A bigger challenge awaits Chen as she will in the women's final face Japanese ace Nozomi Okuhara, who saw off Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei after the top seed decided to retire from the match in the third game, when Okuhara led 11-6.

Chen Yufei (R) of China greets Michelle Li of Canada after their women's singles semi finals match on day five of the Fuzhou China Open in Fuzhou, east China, November 9, 2019. / VCG Photo

Last year in the final, Chen won over Okuhara 21-10, 21-16 for her first-ever super 750 title, a feat she would like to repeat on Sunday. "Okuhara is in very good form now. I need to heat up quickly and try my best for the win," Chen added.

In mixed doubles, top-seeded Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong set up mixed doubles final clash with fellow Chinese duo Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dongping as the two pairs both eased past their opponents in straight games.

The men's singles semifinals witnessed the dominant performances from top two seeds. World No. 1 Kento Momota of Japan eased past Denmark's Rasmus Gemke 21-19, 21-8, while second-seeded Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei eliminated the other Danish shuttler Anders Antonsen 21-10, 21-12.

In addition, Chinese women's pair Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan suffered an agonizing loss of 20-22, 21-19, 21-19 to No. 2 seed Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota of Japan, who will take on Lee So Hee/Shin Seung Chan of South Korea in the final.

Moreover, men's doubles top seeded Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo from Indonesia beat Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty 21-16, 22-20, setting up a final confrontation with Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda of Japan.

Zheng Siwei (R) and Huang Yaqiong of China compete in the mixed doubles semi finals match against Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie of Malaysia (not in picture) on day five of the Fuzhou China Open in Fuzhou, east China, November 9, 2019. / VCG Photo