BANGKOK, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shuttlers delivered a convincing performance at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals here on Thursday with a perfect record in all matches.
In a heavyweight battle of women's singles, China's Tokyo Olympic champion Chen Yufei rebounded from a surprising defeat in the previous day with a 2-0 victory against world No.1 Akane Yamaguchi, ending her five-match losing streak against the Japanese shuttler while keeping her chances for qualification alive.
Chen fended off a late attempt by Yamaguchi to win the first set 21-19. In the second set, Chen scored six consecutive points while trailing by 14-17 to clinch the match point. She went on to take the match 21-18.
"Our matches are often decided by only a few points, depending on who has the better control of details and mentality," said Chen. "I think I am the calmer one today and I didn't give up, especially in the second set."
Chen will vie for a berth of the semifinals against South Korea's An Se-young on Friday.
Chen's teammate He Bingjiao made it to the semifinals after beating home favorite Ratchanok Intanon 21-17, 24-22.
China's men's doubles pair Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi also secured their second victory. They overcame world champions Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in a thrilling three-set battle 23-21, 22-24, 21-16.
In women's doubles, both Chinese pairs, world champions Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan and their teammates Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu secured a 2-0 win against opponents, respectively.
In mixed doubles, world champions Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong cruised to the final four with their second group match win over their Indonesian counterparts Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari 21-9, 22-20. Olympic champions Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dongping recovered from their first-day defeat with a straight-set win against Supak Jomkoh/Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand 21-16, 21-7.
China's sole men's singles player Lu Guangzu also achieved his first win after defeating Prannoy H. S. of India. The grueling match lasted 84 minutes and saw Lu come up on top 23-21, 17-21, 21-19. ■
