HANGZHOU, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) — China’s rising star Li Shifeng stormed into the badminton males’s singles closing on the Hangzhou Asian Games by beating Prannoy Haseena Sunil Kumar of India on Friday.
Li will face compatriot Shi Yuqi within the closing, guaranteeing gold and silver medals for China.
The 23-year-old Li triumphed 21-16, 21-9 in 51 minutes, ending his winless streak towards Kumar, as he had achieved towards Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting within the quarterfinal a day earlier.
“I haven’t won against Prannoy before and I feel very happy to beat such an opponent,” mentioned Li. “I’m just trying to do my best.”
On his Asian Games debut, Li has not dropped one recreation throughout group and singles occasions up to now.
“To be honest, I have been tired recently, but I have adjusted my mindset well, and the cheers of the audience also makes me more competitive and motivated,” Li said.
Shi then adopted go well with, ousting second seed Kodai Naraoka of Japan 21-5, 21-15.
In their newest encounter, the All England Open closing in March, Li defeated Shi in straight video games.
“I want to face Shi as it means China is set to sweep the gold and silver medals,” mentioned Li.
In the ladies’s singles, world No. 1 An Se-young of South Korea sailed previous China’s He Bingjiao 21-10, 21-13, and can contend for her tenth particular person title this season.
The 21-year-old expertise is taken into account essentially the most excellent participant this yr as she turned the primary South Korean feminine to be topped world champion within the singles class, and rose to world No. 1 in August.
“My moving ability is good, which is my advantage,” mentioned An.
“Trying hard has become my habit, and I have no other secrets, I just concentrate on training,” she added.
An’s closing opponent is house favourite Chen Yufei, who bounced again to knock out Japan’s Aya Ohori 18-21, 21-10, 21-8.
In the blended doubles, high seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong rallied to beat newly-crowned world champions Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung 13-21, 21-15, 21-16. The Chinese duo will play towards Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino, who dispatched fellow Chinese pair Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping in full video games.
“They defended well and we prepared specifically for it before the match,” mentioned Zheng.
The males’s doubles closing will pit South Korea’s Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho towards India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and the ladies’s doubles title rivalry options China’s Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan towards Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na of South Korea.
Gold medals in 5 classes shall be awarded on Saturday.