# Luck of draw pits Malaysian against Korean again
# Defending champion Axelsen to play Shi Yuqi in semis
# Chong Wei has never won the Superseries Finals title in Dubai
Hours after losing a three-game match in their final Group A fixture Datuk Lee Chong Wei was drawn to meet South Korea’s Son Won-ho again – this time in the semi-finals in the season ending Dubai Superseries Finals on Saturday.
The semi-final draw were conducted after the preliminary round group matches were completed on Friday at the Hamdan Sports Complex in Dubai the Korean came back from a game down to defeat Chong Wei 13-21, 22-20, 21-15 in the three-man group.
Despite the defeat the 35-year-old Chong Wei finished on top of Group A on better difference in games won with a 3-2 tally. Won-ho (3-3) finished second – knocking out Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long (2-3) after all three finished with one victory. China’s Chen Long, who was also in the same group, withdrew from the Dubai Finals at the last minute due to a knee injury.
Chong Wei was in cruise control in his match against Won-ho after he won the first game easily at 21-13. It was no different in the second game but all that changed when the Malaysian, who was comfortably leading 16-9, slipped on the court which stretched his left leg.
Lucky to have escaped a serious injury Chong Wei took things easy after this and gifted his Korean opponent easy points who forced a rubber after a 22-20 win in the second game.
In the decider Chong Wei, already assured of a place in the last four, played a cautious game and lost 15-21 in a 75-minute battle.
For the record Chong Wei is a four-time winner of the Superseries Finals title – in Kota Kinabalu (2008), Johor Bahru (2009), Taiwan (2010) and Kuala Lumpur (2013).
The second semi-final will be between defending champion and world number one Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and China’s 21-year-old Shi Yuqi. Both semi-finals will allow Chong Wei and Axelsen the chance of revenge after losing to their respective opponents in their group matches.
In the women’s singles defending champion Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei was shown the exit who could only finish third in Group B despite a 21-17, 21-11 win over Korea’s Sung Ji-hyun.
China’s former world junior champion Chen Yufei sneaked into the last four after a stunning 21-18, 13-21, 21-18 win over Thailand’s former world number one and world champion Ratchanok Intanon.
Despite the defeat Ratchanok topped Group B with a 5-2 tally while Chen Yufei (5-3) came in second against Tzu Ying’s 4-3 tally which gave her third spot.BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
SELECTED RESULTS
MEN’S SINGLES
GROUP A
Son Won-ho (Kor) beat Lee Chong Wei (Mas) 13-21, 22-20, 21-15
GROUP B
Viktor Axelsen (Den) beat Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) 21-16, 14-21, 21-15
Shi Yuqi (Chn) beat K. Srikanth (Ind) 21-17, 19-21, 21-14
WOMEN’S SINGLES
GROUP A
P.V. Sindhu (Ind) beat Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) 21-9, 21-13
Sayaka Sato beat He Bingjiao (Chn) 21-18, 21-16
GROUP B
Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe) beat Sung Ji-hyun (Kor) 21-17, 21-11
Chen Yufei (Chn) beat Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) 21-18, 13-21, 21-18
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