Tai Tzu Ying lined herself up for a hat-trick of women’s singles titles, with a revenge win over Chen Yufei in the semifinals of the Celcom Axiata Malaysia Open 2019 today.

The No.1 had fallen in the final of the All England recently to Chen, but dismantled her opponent with her pacy and deceptive game. It was closer in the second after Tai led 15-11; Tai struggled to control the shuttle and Chen made it to 18-all before Tai wrested the advantage once again to make it to her fourth straight final: 21-14 21-19. She will be up against Akane Yamaguchi, who improved her career record against compatriot Nozomi Okuhara to 7-11.

Other Results

• The women’s doubles final will be an all-China affair between Li Yinhui/Du Yue and Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan. Du/Li beat Thailand’s Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai 21-12 21-14, while Chen/Jia proved too strong for Korea’s Chang Ye Na/Jung Kyung Eun 21-14 21-18.
• Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong reached their seventh straight final – their 12^th in the last 14 tournaments – easily beating Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai 21-14 21-9. They face familiar rivals Wang Yilyu/Huang Dongping, one of the few pairs to beat them last season.
• The men’s doubles will be a repeat of the World Championships final between Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen and Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda. Li/Liu beat Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi 13-21 21-19 21-15, while Kamura/Sonoda outplayed Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto 21-13 22-20.

Favourites Wang and Huang prevail to make it an all-Chinese 🇨🇳 title clash at the Malaysia Open 🏸 #HSBCBWFbadminton #HSBCRaceToGuangzhou pic.twitter.com/Nq7ScN9Bcx

— BWF (@bwfmedia) April 6, 2019

Talking Point

“I have always done well in Malaysia because I feel good here and the crowd is always supporting me. It almost feels like it is a home court for me,” said Tai Tzu Ying after making her fourth straight final.