China's Chen Yufei competes during the women's singles quarterfinal match with Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, Britain, March 13, 2020. (Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua)
LONDON, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The All England Open Badminton Championships continued on Friday despite concerns from the spread of coronavirus as Chen Yufei of China remained on track for her title defence with a hard-fought win in the quarterfinals.
The 22-year-old Chen lost the opening set 21-17 to Thai shuttler Ratchanok Intanon but managed to come from behind, taking the following two games 21-15, 21-17 to clinch the victory.
"Today's match was really difficult. The opponent played very well today. It could also be seen that the opponent made a specific deployment according to my characteristics or style of play before the game," said Chen.
"I hope to play well in the semifinals," added Chen, who will next face Japan's Nozomi Okuhara while reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin from Spain will play against Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the semis.
In women's doubles, China's Du Yue/Li Yinhui beat Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara from Japan 14-21, 21-18, 21-13 in the quarterfinals, while Chinese top seeds Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan were ousted by Japanese pair Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi in three games.
In men's singles, reigning Olympic champion Chen Long suffered a shock defeat, losing 21-12, 21-18 to All England rookie Lee Zii Jia from Malaysia. Chen's teammate Shi Yuqi also failed to progress through the quarters, beaten by Denmark's Viktor Axelsen 21-15, 21-7.
"Viktor's game was so strong all over the court. My ligament injury affected my performance a little," said the 24-year-old Shi, who suffered an ankle injury last year.
The world No.1 Chou Tien Chen from Chinese Taipei will fight for a final berth against Danish Anders Antonsen.
