Taipei, Sept. 20 (CNA) Taiwan's Tai Tzu-ying is just two matches away from a chance at winning the China Open title after successfully edging out her Thai opponent in the quarterfinals of the women's singles event in Changzhou, eastern China's Jiangsu province on Friday.
Seeded sixth in the tournament, Tai beat Busanan Ongbamrungphan 21-17, 21-10 in just 33 minutes, in a match played at Changzhou's Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium.
With the win on Friday, the head-to-head record between Tai and Ongbamrungphan now stands at 8-3 in favor of the Taiwanese player.
The two rivals played a finely balanced game in the opening at 10-10, when Tai managed to score four consecutive points to stay in the lead.
Struggling to keep up, Ongbamrungphan let the gap slide to 13-20, and eventually allowed Tai to grab the first game.
Tai kept up the pressure against her opponent in the second game, steaming ahead right from the start at 6-2 before capping the match comfortably with a victory.
Although Tai has won many Badminton World Federation (BWF) titles in the past, such as the French Open and All England Open, she has never taken the China Open title.
The Friday match also marked the second time she reached the semifinals of the Chinese badminton championship after her last attempt in 2016.
Also on the same day, Taiwanese badminton ace Chou Tien-chen failed to reach the semifinals of the men's singles at the China Open, after losing 17-21, 11-21 to world No. 4 Anders Antonsen of Denmark.
The China Open is part of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super Series tournaments, and one of the three BWF World Tour Super 1000 events.
The tournament, which comes with a US$1 million purse, will run until Sunday.
