BWF China Masters 2023: Nishimoto Kenta reaches final to close in on BWF World Tour Finals berth - results
Nishimoto defeated Zhao Junpeng to set up an all-Japanese men's final against third seed Naraoka Kodai after Olympic champion Chen Yufei made it through to the women's decider.
Badminton
Nishimoto Kenta is one victory away from claiming the last men's singles spot at next month's badminton BWF World Tour Finals after winning his semi-final at the BWF China Masters 2023 on Saturday (25 November), live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app.
Having ended Lee Zii Jia's campaign on Friday, the Japanese beat home shuttler Zhao Junpeng 21-17, 21-8 in Shenzhen to make his third final of the year.
That result saw Nishimoto leapfrog Malaysia's Ng Tze Yong and Thailand's current world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn into eighth place in the Race to Finals rankings.
But with Vitidsarn automatically qualifying for the second-ending tournament in Hangzhou by virtue of being world champion, Nishimoto needs to displace Anders Antonsen from seventh place. He will do so should he win Sunday's final.
The world number 10 came through an enthralling opening game against Zhao who had vociferous support inside the Shenzhen Bay Gymnasium.
But some powerful smashes and wonderful defence saw Nishimoto silence the crowd, and he drew clear in the second game before converting his first match point as he seeks his second title of 2023.
Nishimoto now faces Naraoka Kodai after the third seed defeated another Japanese shuttler, Tsuneyama Kanta, 21-15, 21-19.
You can watch all the action from finals day in Shenzhen live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com, and the official Olympics app for mobile devices, subject to territorial restrictions.
Chen Yufei through to all-Chinese women's singles final
Earlier, Chen Yufei made it through to her sixth final of 2023 thanks to a 21-16, 21-15 win over Kim Ga-eun of Republic of Korea.
The reigning Olympic champion from People's Republic of China was pushed hard by the recent Korea Masters champion in the first game and a half, but Chen delighted the home crowd as she pulled away after the second mid-game interval to complete victory in 46 minutes.
She now faces fellow Chinese Han Yue who defeated Wang Zhiyi in straight games, repeating her triumph over her compatriot in last month's Arctic Open final.
Both Chen and Han have qualified for next month's BWF Tour Finals in Hangzhou.
Results from the BWF China Masters 2023 semi-finals:
Mixed doubles: [4] Seo Seung-jae/Chae Yu-jung (KOR) def. Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet (HKG) 21-17, 21-13
Women's singles: [8] Han Yue (CHN) def. Wang Zhiyi (CHN) 21-14, 21-18
Mixed doubles: [1] Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong (CHN) def. [3] Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping (CHN) 21-16, 21-13
Women's singles: [3] Chen Yufei (CHN) def. Kim Ga-eun (KOR) 21-16, 21-15
Women's doubles: [4] Fukushima Yuki/Hirota Sayaka (JPN) def. [1] Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan (CHN) 14-21, 21-16, 21-15
Women's doubles: Matsuyama Nami/Shida Chiharu (JPN) def. [8] Jeong Na-eun/Kim Hye-jeong (KOR) 21-23, 22-20
Men's singles: [3] Naraoka Kodai (JPN) def. Tsuneyama Kanta (JPN) 21-15, 21-19
Men's doubles: [1] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (IND) def. He Jiting/Ren Xiangju (CHN) 21-15, 22-20
Men's singles: Nishimoto Kenta (JPN) def. Zhao Junpeng (CHN) 21-17, 21-8.
Men's doubles: [2] Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang (CHN) def. Chen Boyang/Liu Yi (CHN) 21-17, 14-21, 21-15