Lee Cheuk Yiu reaches semi-final after a 73 minutes long match with Sameer Verma and will take on Kenta Nishimoto tomorrow

Lee Cheuk Yiu is one step closer to the Men’s Singles title of “YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open 2018”. He defeated India’s Sameer Verma 2:1 in a 73 minutes match tonight (16th Nov) and will play against No.8 seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in the semi-final tomorrow.

As Shi Yu Qi withdrew from the tournament, Lee progressed to second round. He then entered top 8 after knocked out Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark. In the quarter finals tonight, the home favourite took the first game easily by 21:15 with all the enthusiastic spectators’ support. Sameer Verma chased back 21:19. In the third game, the two were playing so close, Lee sealed the victory by 21:11.

Lee said, ‘I’ve never thought of winning this match. In the last game, I kept reminding myself to be calm and wait for my opponent to make mistake.’ 2 years ago, Angus Ng Ka Long won the title after defeating the same player. Lee hopes to follow his footsteps but he thinks it is still too early to say if he can make it all the way like him.

In Women’s Singles, 3-time Hong Kong Open champion Tai Tzu Ying came back from 18:21, and stopped the former world No.1 Carolina Marin of Spain by 21:9, 21:14. The defending champion will face Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the semi-finals tomorrow. No.1 seed of Women’s Double Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota of Japan will meet Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu in the semi-finals.