As it happened - BWF Badminton World Tour Finals 2022: Day 3 - Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, Jonatan Christie and surprise Naraoka Kodai qualify for MS semis

Badminton's grand season finale, the BWF World Tour Finals 2022 are under way in Bangkok, Thailand.

It's the final day of group action involving the tour's top eight players/pairs across the five events of men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles at Nimibutr Arena on Friday, 9 December 2022.

Our daily preview and order of play can be found here.

Recap the first two days below:

• Day 2 - Chia/Soh eliminated in MD, Viktor Akxelsen romps, all to play for in MS Group B
• Day 1 - Axelsen, Loh Kean Yew, Yamaguchi Akane open with wins

Olympics.com will provide live updates throughout the day from the Thai capital, which you can re-live below.

All times below are Thailand Standard Time (UTC/GMT +7 hours). Most recent updates at the top.

20:16 - It's Tai Tzu Ying

In the last match of the day, the Chinese Taipei shuttler makes it out of women's singles Group B along with He Bing Jiao after a 21-10, 12-21, 21-7 victory over local favourite Ratchanok Intanon.

Semi-final draw coming up.

18:31 - Naraoka on advancing to next round

"I was really nervous but I think I managed to play my game. It was difficult to control the shuttle and I didn’t want to hit long. But I attacked throughout.

"The first match here was important and I’m glad I won that. Second match was all about how I stack up against Axelsen and today it was a must win. I've been nervous since yesterday but I was locked in from the beginning of the match.

"Honestly I wasn’t sure how I’d do here. I was nervous. But I like to think I’ve held my own throughout the three matches".

17:59 - Naraoka Kodai punches his way into semis

The Japanese up-and-comer will join Axelsen from Group A on Saturday after beating Lu Guang Zu 21-19, 21-15 in a hard-fought 58 minutes.

This is Naraoka's first Tour Finals.

17:21 - Viktor Axelsen falls to Prannoy H S

In something you don't see every day, the defending champion and reigning Olympic/world champion loses, 14-21, 21-17, 21-18 to the Indian who had already been eliminated in Group A.

Prannoy also won when the two last met at the Indonesian Masters in November 2021. Axelsen, who qualified for the next round yesterday, lost for just the third time this season.

17:18 - Ginting on beating his friend

"I’m feeling really, really very happy and grateful", said Ginting, who is now 3-2 against Loh.

"Today is really important.My job is to secure the positions in the group. I’m No. 1 in the group. Hopefully I can give my very best again tomorrow".

15:17 - A S Ginting eliminates Loh Kean Yew

The Indonesian made it 3-for-3 in men's singles Group B with an exciting 21-12, 23-21 victory over Loh, who had to beat Ginting in order to reach the weekend.

Ginting's win also sent his compatriot Christie to the semi-finals. Christie earlier earned his second victory against Chou.

Ginting ran away with the first game, rattling off eight consecutive points to corner Loh for the second. The Singaporean was up 13-8 but allowed Ginting seven of the next nine points to even the score.

Loh staved off two match points and had game point at 21-20, but Ginting would go on to capture three successive points - and the match.

14:38 - Zheng/Huang get a rest day

We have a walkover in the mixed doubles with Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong picking up their third win in Group A.

The remaining semi-final ticket will be contested later by Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari and Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue.

Stay tuned.

14:34 - Christie on the waiting game:

"Every time I play against Chou, it’s a very, very tough match. Definitely I will support Ginting but if you ask me to watch or not, I don’t know. I just rest and go back to my hotel.

"I’m feeling good. Not tired too much. As I told you before the shuttle is very fast. I think it was just 48 minutes? So very fast".

14:19 - Chen on winning do-or-die match vs An:

"The first set was a bit of a problem for me so I had to be patient. I managed to win the set and in the second, I stayed on my toes the whole time.

"If I had lost I wouldn’t have gone to the next round but I only thought of one thing: doing the best I can. It might seem like we were both playing normal but we were both under a lot of pressure".

13:39 - Jonatan Christie beats CTC - and now waits

The world No. 5 put one foot through the door to the semi-finals with a three-game win over Chou Tien Chen (21-13, 12-21, 21-17).

As one would expect from the Chinese Taipei warrior, Chou forced a third game even though he had all but been eliminated with defeats the first two days. Chou saved three match points before officially going out with Christie's fate hinging on the upcoming match between Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Loh Kean Yew.

13:09 - Yamaguchi: "I just had to be aggressive"

Yamaguchi is now 10-3 for her career against Tunjung but two of those defeats to the Indonesian came this season.

The Japanese took the first game but Tunjung turned the tables on her in the second to force a third set. Tunjung, though, cramped up after Yamaguchi began pulling away.

Tunjung did well to stay close but Yamaguchi was too much to overcome while hobbling on one leg. Here's what the winner had to say:

"Once we changed sides at the interval in the third game, I knew I just had to be aggressive. I kept my focus to finish the match.

"She couldn’t move very much which threw me off a bit. I was hitting into the net, couldn’t return the tough shots she was hitting.I tried to get her to use her feet which turned out to be not easy to do.

"Everyone here is strong and no match is easy. But the two matches I lost to her this season was due to my lack of concentration. I allowed her to dictate the match from start to finish then.

"She’s very technical and I need to come up with ways to take away her strengths".

12:05 - Judgment day

The last day of round-robin play at the BWF World Tour Finals is off to a fast start at Nimibutr Arena.

Kicking off the day is win-or-go-home Group A in the women's singles where two-time defending world champion Yamaguchi Akane and Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei have secured a place in the last four.

Yamaguchi beat a resilient Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in three, 21-15, 13-21, 21-18 while Chen outclassed An Se Young 21-16, 21-12.

The draw for Saturday's semi-final will be held following today's last match.