Dechapol and Sapsiree advance to Osaka final
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Dechapol and Sapsiree advance to Osaka final

title shot: Dechapol Puavaranukroh, left, plays a shot as Sapsiree Taerattanachai looks on during their mixed doubles semi-final match at the Japan Open 2022. (Photo: badminton photo)
title shot: Dechapol Puavaranukroh, left, plays a shot as Sapsiree Taerattanachai looks on during their mixed doubles semi-final match at the Japan Open 2022. (Photo: badminton photo)

Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai are chasing their third title of the year after booking their berth in the mixed doubles final of the US$750,000 BWF Japan Open in Osaka on Saturday.

The second-seeded pair defeated Tokyo Olympic champions Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping of China 21-18, 21-18 in the semi-finals of the World Tour Super 750 event.

Top-ranked Dechapol and Sapsiree are in their fifth final of the year. They won the German Open and the Singapore Open and finished runners-up at the Thailand Open and Malaysia Open.

They will play third seeds Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino of Japan in Sunday's decider at Maruzen Intec Arena Osaka.

The Japanese pair upset top seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China 21-17, 12-21, 23-21.

Japan's world champion Akane Yamaguchi came through her tough semi-final against Olympic champion Chen Yufei, rallying to beat the Chinese star 15-21, 21-16, 24-22.

Yamaguchi will play Korean third seed An Se-Young, who downed second seed Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan 21-12, 14-21, 21-13, in the final.

On the men's side, fourth seed Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan ousted China's Shi Yuqi 15-21, 21-19, 21-12. He will play Kenta Nishimoto of Japan, who upset third Anders Antonsen of Denmark 22-20, 21-19.

In the women's doubles semi-finals, Baek Ha-Na and Lee Yu-Lim of South Korea ousted top seeds Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan of China 12-21, 21-18, 21-19.

They will play fellow Koreans Jeong Na-Eun and Kim Hye Jeong, who defeated fourth seeds Kim So-Yeong and Kong Hee-Yong, also from South Korea, 21-10, 23-21.

In the men's doubles final, China's Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang will play seventh seeds Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark.

Liang and Wang knocked out Choi Sol-Gyu and Kim Won-Ho of South Korea 21-16, 21-16 while the Danes beat Kim Gi-Jung and Kim Sa-Rang of South Korea 13-21, 21-18, 21-11.

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