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Top seed Axelsen through to Indonesia Open semis / Photo: © AFP
Top seed Axelsen through to Indonesia Open semis
Top seed Viktor Axelsen advanced to the semi-final of the Indonesia Open after beating Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in a thrilling match held at the Istora Senayan sporting arena in Jakarta on Friday.
The badminton world number one overcame a fast start from Ginting to claim the first game 21-13.
Cheered on by the home crowd, Ginting stormed back to clinch the second game 21-19 to force a decider.
But the Tokyo Olympic champion dominated the third game, winning 21-9 to secure a place in the semis.
Axelsen said handling the pressure from Ginting and the home crowd was key to his win.
"I really tried to focus on my game today and tried to play the right game," said Axelsen after the match.
"Ginting was playing well today. He's (playing) on home soil so he had the whole stadium with him but it was a great experience for me."
In the semis, Axelsen will face Malaysia's rising star Lee Zii Jia, who beat Singapore's Loh Kean Yew 21-18, 16-21, 22-20.
In the women's singles, world number two Tai Tzu Ying breezed through to the semi-finals after beating Denmark's Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt.
The Taiwanese's ace sealed her place in the top four after outplaying Kjaersfeldt 21-13, 21-13 to set up a match against Tokyo Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei.
Chen booked her place in the semis after defeating Japan's Nozomi Okuhara 21-16, 21-10.
Last year's Indonesia Open women's singles champion An Se Young bowed out of the tournament after she was beaten by China's He Bing Jiao 15-21, 21-17, 21-14.
M. de Jesus--JDB
