All England Open 2023 Badminton: Semi-final results as Lee Zii Jia exits and An Se-young wins epic - Saturday 18 March 2023

There was quality and emotion in equal measure on semi-finals day at the 2023 All England Open, the world's oldest badminton tournament.

Shi Yuqi of People's Republic of China won the battle of former champions in the first men's singles semi-final on Saturday (18 March), defeating Lee Zii Jia 21-19, 21-13.

Lee looked to have slightly the upper hand in the first game and pulled off a remarkable full-stretch winner to go 17-15 ahead.

But 2018 victor Shi won four of the next five points to take the lead before two wayward lifts from the Malaysian saw him take it 21-19.

The former world number two's commitment to attack was paying dividends with 2021 winner Lee having to employ desperate defence at times.

Shi beat Lee in last October's Denmark Open final for his first title since serving a 10-month suspension after retiring at match point down to Momota Kento during the 2021 Thomas Cup.

And the Chinese repeated the trick in Birmingham, completing victory in 43 minutes.

On Sunday, he will face compatriot Li Shifeng after the 23-year-old outlasted Denmark's Anders Antonsen 21-11, 19-21, 21-18 in an hour and 35 minutes.

It was Antonsen's third All England semi-final defeat with Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games champion Li, who removed his shirt and performed some acrobatics afterwards, through to his first BWF World Tour Super 1000 final.

An Se-young edges past Tai Tzu Ying to reach consecutive women's finals

Republic of Korea's An Se-young saved four match points before converting her first to beat Chinese Taipei's three-time winner Tai Tzu Ying in an epic second women's semi-final.

The first game was closely contested but Tai raised her level when it mattered, coming from 15-14 down to take it 21-17.

Second seed An won seven consecutive points in game two to take an 11-5 lead into the break, but the Olympic silver medallist roared back to level at 15-15.

It was nip and tuck after that, and the 21-year-old Korean won the last two points to force a decider which became something of a classic.

Both players were clearly fatigued with An leading 11-8 at the changeover before Tai levelled at 15-15 and then went 17-16 in front.

Tai turned defence into attack superbly to set up two match points at 20-18. An somehow saved both of them, and then a third and a fourth with her attack to the body working at the vital moment.

And when An finally brought up a match point of her own, Tai sent a backhand wide with the youngster falling to the ground in celebration at reaching her second consecutive All England final after an hour and 22 minutes. The pair later swapped headbands in recognition of a pulsating match.

An will need to recover quickly ahead of her final against Chen Yufei who beat reigning All England champion Yamaguchi Akane 21-17, 21-8.

After a tight start, Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist Chen converted an 11-9 lead at the first break into an 18-11 advantage as she attempted to avenge her defeat in last year's semi-finals.

Back came the Japanese, winning a stunning rally to close to 17-19, but Chen won the next two points to take the opening game.

Yamaguchi appeared to be troubled by her right shoulder, and she had no response to the 25-year-old Chinese who dominated at the net to triumph in 37 minutes.

Elsewhere, three-time men's doubles world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan came through a thriller against China's Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang.

The Indonesian veterans, aka 'The Daddies', converted their sixth match point to prevail 29-27 in the third as they bid to go one better than last year and regain the title they won in 2019.

All England Open 2023 - Semi-finals - Results

Women's doubles

• Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand Pullela (IND) lost to Baek Ha-na/Lee So-hee (KOR) 10-21, 10-21.
• [6] Kim So-yeong/Kong Hee-yong (KOR) def. [3] Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu (CHN) 21-14, 25-23.

Mixed doubles

• [1] Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong (CHN) def. Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto/Lisa Ayu Kusumawati (INA) 21-17, 13-21, 21-13.
• Seo Seung-jae/Chae Yu-jung (KOR) def. Kim Won-ho/Jeong Na-eun (KOR) 21-14, 28-26.

Women's singles

• [1] Yamaguchi Akane (JPN) lost to [4] Chen Yufei (CHN) 17-21, 8-21.
• [3] Tai Tzu Ying (TPE) lost to [2] An Se-young (KOR) 21-17, 19-21, 22-24.

Men's doubles

• [3] Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan (INA) def. Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang (CHN) 21-15, 19-21, 29-27.
• [1] Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto (INA) def. He Jiting/Zhou Haodong (CHN) 21-19, 21-17.

Men's singles

• [4] Lee Zii Jia (MAS) lost to Shi Yuqi (CHN) 19-21, 13-21.
• Li Shifeng (CHN) def. Anders Antonsen (DEN) 21-11, 19-21, 21-18.

How to watch All England Open 2023 - Semi-final and final action 

The event is live to watch on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com in some regions, including in Great Britain where the event is being hosted.

Replays and highlights can also be seen on Olympics.com and the BWF website.