Denmark's Hans-Kristian Vittinghus failed to break Asia's domination in the men's singles in the USD600,000 Victor Korea Open Superseries at the Seong-nam Indoor Stadium on Friday.
Vittinghus, this year's Australian Open champion and Rio Olympics bronze medallist could not stop an all-Asian semi-final line-up when he was soundly beaten by Korean hope Son Wan-ho.
The sixth seeded Wan-ho romped to a 21-18, 21-13 win in 43 minutes to set up an all-Korean semifinals against compatriot Lee Hyun-Il. The 36-year-old Hyun-ll overcame a tough first set against India's Ajay Jayaram to stay afloat for a 25-23, 21-13 victory.
The other semi-final will be between Hong Kong's Vincent Wong Wing Ki and Chinese youngster Qiao Bin. Wing Ki upset fourth seed Tian Houwei of China 21-18, 21-17 in 53 minutes while Qiao Bin was too strong for Koream qualifier Heo Kwang-hee and came off 21-7, 21-14 winner.
Interestingly the women's singles semi-finals will be all-Korea and all-Japan with defending champion Sung Ji-hyun, seeded only No 5, facing compatriot Kim Hyo-min and Japan's No 7 seed Akane Yamaguchi up against Minatsu Mitani.
In the quarter-final Ji-hyun shocked fourth seed Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan 21-16, 21-18 while Akane ran out 21-13, 21-13 winner against Korea's Kim Hyang-im. Minatsu slogged for 62 minutes before prevailing 14-21, 21-19, 21-16.
The men's doubles top seeds Lee Yong-dae-Yoo Yeon-seong stayed on course with a 21-15, 18-21, 21-18 defeat of Japan's Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda. However, No 3 seeds and world champions Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan were shown the door as they lost rather tamely 21-11, 21-16 in only 27 minutes to China's Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen..
But there was joy for Malaysia's Rio Olympics silver medallists Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (No 5 seeds), with a smashing 21-18, 21-13 over China's No 2 seeds Chai Biao-Hong Wei in 32 minutesand face Junhui-Yuchen for a place in the final.
Rio bronze medallists Jung Kyung-eun-Shin Seung-chan, the No 1 seeds, made mince meat of Japan's Naoko Fukuman-Karumi Yonao (No 5 seeds) 21-12, 21-13 in 42 minutes to advance to the semi-finals in the women's doubles.
Last week's Japan Open winners Denmark's Christinna Pedersen-Kamilla Rytter Juhl stayed on course for their second title in a week with a 21-18, 21-18 win over China's Ou Dongni-Yu Xiaohan for a place in the last four.
Malaysia will also have their Rio Olympic silver medal winners Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying fighting for a place in the final after they came through the distance for a 21-14, 14-21, 21-19 win over Denmark's Anders Skaarup Rasmussen-Sara Thygesen in an hour-long match.
However, the Malaysians have a tough hurdle in the semis against No 1 seeds and home favourites Ko Sung-hyun-Kim Ha-na. The Koreans stopped another Danish pair Kim Astrup-Line Kjaersfeldt 21-15, 21-17.
Japan Open winners Zheng Siwei-Chen Qingchen (No 5 seeds) will play Hong Kong's Reginald Lee Chun Hei-Chau Hoi Wah in the other semi-final.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men's singles
Son Wan-ho (Kor) beat Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (Den) 21-18, 21-13
Lee Hyun Ill (Kor) beat Ajay Jayaram (Ind) 25-23, 21-13
Vincent Wong Wing Ki (Hkg) beat Tian Houwei (Chn) 21-18, 21-17
Qiao Bin (Chn) beat Heo Kwang-hee (Kor) 21-7, 21-14
Men's doubles
Lee Yong-dae-Yoo Yeon-seong (Kor) beat Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda (Jpn) 21-15, 18-21, 21-18
Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen (Chn) beat Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) 21-11, 21-16
Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (Mas) beat Chai Biao-Hong Wei (Chn) 21-18, 21-13
Huang Kaixiang-Wang Yilyu (Chn) beat Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) 21-17, 21-16
Women's singles
Kim Hyo-min (Kor) beat Kim Ga-eun (Kor) 21-19, 21-8
Sung Ji-hyun (Kor) beat Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe) 21-16, 21-18
Minatsu Mitani (Jpn) beat Chen Yufei (Chn) 14-21, 21-19, 21-16
Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) beat Kim Hyang-im (Kor) 21-13, 21-13
Women's doubles
Jung Kyung-eun-Shin Seung-chan (Kor) beat Naoko Fukuman-Karumi Yaono (Jpn) 21-12, 21-13
Chang Ye-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) beat Shizuka Matsuo-Mami Naito (jpn) 21-10, 25-23
Luo Ying-Luo Yu (Chn) beat Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva (Bul) 19-21, 21-15, 21-18
Christinna Pedersen–Kamilla Rytter Juhl (Den) beat Ou Dongni-Yu Xiaohan(Chn) 21-18, 21-18
Mixed doubles
Reginald Lee Chun Hei-Chau Hoi Wah (Hkg) Chung Eui-seok-Yoo Hae-won (Kor)
21-15, 13-21, 21-12
Ko Sung-hyun-Kim Ha-na (Kor) beat Kim Astrup-Line Kjaersfeldt (Den) 21-15, 21-17
Zheng Siwei-Chen Qingchen (Chn) beat Lu Kai-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) 21-17, 21-19
Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (Mas) beat Anders Skaarup Rasmussen-Sara Thygesen (Den) 21-14, 14-21, 21-19
