World No. 8 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia came through with big shots in the crunch and pulled off a stunning 22-20, 23-21 win over reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore to book his place in the semifinals of the men’s singles at the Badminton Asia Championships 2022 Friday at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex in Muntinlupa City.
The 2018 Asian Games champion played catch up in both frames, but produced the most telling shots when needed most to grab the momentum and prevailed in 47 minutes of exciting action.
With the Christie set up an all-Indonesian semis duel with Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo.
On the other side of the draw, world no. 7 Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia and Weng Hong Yang of China will battle for the other final berth.
Lee cruised past Tsuneyama Kanta of Japan, 21-13, 21-11, while Weng fashioned an upset against world no. 5 Anthony Sinusuka Ginting of Indonesia, 21-13, 16-21, 21-11.
In the women’s singles, world No. 4 An Seyoung of Korea completed the semis cast after a clinical win over Japanese Sayaka Takahashi, 21-15, 21-5. An will go up against Wang Zhi Yi of China for a place in the final. Japan, though, got through the mixed doubles last four as Watanabe Yuta and Higashino Arisa took down Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing of Malaysia, 21-18, 21-5. The Japanese pair drew China’s Wang Yi Lyu and Huang Dong Ping, winners over Rinov Rivaldy and Plitha Haningtyas Mentari of Indonesia, 21-13, 21-11.
Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik secured a berth for a Malaysian pair in the final as they advanced into the semifinals of men’s doubles, scoring a three-setter against India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, 12-21, 21-14, 21-16. Meanwhile, world No. 8 Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia set up another all-Indonesian semifinal after defeating Man Wei Chiong and Kai Wun Tee of Malaysia, 21-16, 21-16.
