CHENGDU – Chou Tien-chen stunned badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen on May 3, as Chinese Taipei ousted Denmark 3-1 to reach the Thomas Cup semi-finals.

In-form Chou put his side ahead by beating Axelsen 21-19, 14-21, 21-19 in the duel between the two sides’ first singles players.

Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin dominated Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen to make it 2-0, before Anders Antonsen kept Denmark’s hope alive after crushing Lin Chun-yi 14-21, 21-10, 21-14.

But Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan claimed a thrilling victory, besting Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard 23-21, 21-18 to seal their team’s last-four berth.

“I’m very disappointed,” said Axelsen. “My form was not as good as the previous two matches. My defence was not good, and I made more mistakes.”

“Axelsen is the arch-rival of all the men’s singles players, so performing at such a high level made me very happy, whether it is win or lose,” Chou stated.

Chinese Taipei will take on 14-time winners Indonesia on May 4, after the latter eliminated South Korea 3-1, while the other semi-final clash will see hosts China meet Malaysia.

In the women’s Uber Cup, defending champions South Korea swept aside Chinese Taipei 3-0, while Indonesia also took a 3-0 win over Thailand to reach the semi-finals.

South Korea and Indonesia will compete on May 4 for a final spot, and the winner is set to meet either China or Japan in the final.

The biennial international badminton championships, held in Chengdu, south-west China’s Sichuan province, marked the 33rd edition of the Thomas Cup and the 30th edition of the Uber Cup, with each tournament featuring 16 teams in four groups and taking place from April 27 to May 5.

Singapore finished last in Group A of the Uber Cup after losing 5-0 to China, 4-1 to India and 5-0 to Canada. XINHUA