All England Open 2024: Axelsen dumped out of men's singles as Yamaguchi Akane, An Se Young reach women's semi-finals
World number 1 and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen was dumped out at the quarter-final stage of the 2024 All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham on Friday (15 March), live on Olympic Channel.
The Danish star and top seed in men's singles was beaten by Indonesian shuttler Anthony Ginting. Axelsen took the opening game 21-8, but the number 5 seed Ginting struck back, winning the next two 21-18, 21-19 to book his place in the semi-finals.
His prize is a clash with Christo Popov of France, who beat Japan's Watanabe Koki 21-17, 21-10 to book his place in the final four.
Earlier in the day, Republic of Korea badminton star An Se Young continued her mesmerising form in 2024 with victory over Han Yue in the women's quarter-finals.
The world No. 1 and reigning world champion An needed just 46 minutes to beat No. 8 seed Han of the People's Republic of China, 21-16, 21-19.
An's prize is a semi-final showdown against World No. 4 and three-time world champion Yamaguchi Akane, who needed three sets to defeat Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia in their quarter-final clash.
The Japanese shuttler looked on course for a simple win after sealing the first game 21-10, before Tunjung took the second 22-10 to level proceedings.
The lead changed hands several times in a nail-biting third, but Yamaguchi's class won through and she was able to wrap up the deciding game 21-18.
On the other side of the women's singles draw, No. 3 seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei avoided an upset by coming from behind to beat China shuttler, and No. 6 seed, He Bing Jiao 16-21, 21-16, 22-20.
In the final four she will play against the winner of Spanish Olympic gold medallists Carolina Marin (Spain) and Chen Yu Fei (China).
Elsewhere in Friday's early session, in the women's doubles quarter-finals, Miyaura Rena and Sakuramoto Ayako of Japan defeated Malaysia's Tan Pearly and Thinnah Muralitharan 11-21, 21-18, 21-18.
In the other men's singles quarter-finals, Malaysian star Lee Zii Jia lost to India's Lakshya Sen 22-20, 16-21, 19-21**,** while Chinese second seed Shi Yu Qi bowed out against Jonatan Christie of Indonesia.
Watch the action live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app (territorial restrictions may apply).
More to follow.
