Young Priyanshu Rajawat’s dream of winning the Syed Modi India International badminton title was dashed as he went down fighting to Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu Jen 21-18, 14-21, 17-21 in the men’s singles semi-final in Lucknow on Saturday.
However, women’s doubles seventh seeds Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa entered the final of the BWF World Super 300 event after Japan’s top-seeds Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota had to concede their match after Sayaka was injured while they led 11-10 in the first game.
In the final, Chi, the world No.48, runs into Japanese second seed Kenta Nishimoto, who beat France’s Alex Lanier 21-17, 13-21, 21-17 in another exciting semi-final.
In the women’s singles final, the seasoned Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, who is unseeded, will face Demark’s Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt after contrasting semi-final victories. Okuhara brushed aside compatriot and third seed Aya Ohori 21-19, 22-20, while Line rallied to beat Chinese Taipei’s Wen Chi Hsu 14-21, 21-17, 21-16.
Rajawat, the 21-year-old from Madhya Pradesh who won the Orleans Masters Super 300 this season, won the first game after being 18-all but made many unforced errors to lose the second and third games. The Gopichand academy trainee began losing confidence after Chi went 11-7 in the second game. Although Rajawat produced powerful smashes to reduce the gap to 14-16, Chi took advantage of Rajawat’s unforced errors to draw level.
In the decider, Rajawat, who has also won four International Challenge titles, clawed back from 7-10 to 9-11 at the break, but needing one point to make it 13-all, a backhand flick went out and Chi then raced to 20-14. In a last-ditch effort, Rajawat saved four matches points before another unforced error gave Chi the game 21-17, and the match in just over an hour.
RESULTS
Men’s singles (semi-finals): Kenta Nishimoto (Jpn) bt Alex Lanier (Fra) 21-17, 13-21, 21-17; Chi Yu Jen (Tai) bt Priyanshu Rajawat (Ind) 18-21, 21-14, 21-17.
Men’s doubles (semi-finals): Choong Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal (Mas) bt Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) 21-12, 21-19; Tanisha Crasto-Ashwini Ponnappa (Ind) bt Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota (Jpn)10-11 (concd).
Women’s singles (semi-finals): Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) bt Aya Ohori (Jpn) 21-19, 22-20; Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt (Den) bt Wen Chi Hsu (Tai) 14-21, 21-17, 21-16.
Women’s doubles (semi-finals): Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) bt Setyana Mapasa-Angela Yu (Aus) 17-21, 21-17, 21-15;
Mixed doubles (semi-finals): Yuki Kaneko-Misaki Matsutomo (Jpn) bt Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin (Mas) 17-21, 21-5, 21-17; Dejan Ferdinansyah-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja bt Mark Lamsfuss-Isabel Lohau (Ger) 21-19, 19-21, 22-20.
