Lee Chia-hao Advances to Men’s Singles Semifinals at All England Open

Birmingham: Taiwanese shuttler Lee Chia-hao on Friday defeated his opponent to advance to the semifinals of the All England Open Badminton Championships, marking his best performance in a Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 event. Ranked world No. 22 in men's singles by the BWF, Lee bested Kenta Nishimoto of Japan 21-9, 21-18 in the quarterfinals played at the Utilita Arena Birmingham. According to Focus Taiwan, the Taiwanese shuttler came out strong in the opener, tying 4-4 before seizing several points consecutively to clinch the first game. Despite trailing 3-8 early in the second, Lee quickly regained his momentum and rallied to seal the match with a narrow victory over Nishimoto. With the win, Lee also became the second Taiwanese male player to reach the men's singles semifinals of the All England Open after veteran Chou Tien-chen did so in 2017, 2020, and 2022. The 25-year-old Lee will next face France's rising star shuttler Alex Lanier, who just won the Orléans Masters title last w eek in France. In other matches, Taiwanese men's doubles Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan were ousted in the Birmingham tournament after losing 11-21, 22-20, 20-22 to Indonesians Bagas Maulana and Leo Rolly Carnando in the quarterfinals. The All England Open Badminton Championships is being held from March 11-16.