Chou Tien Chen will need to wait another year to match compatriot Tai Tzu Ying’s five Taipei Open titles after being defeated in the semifinals of the 2024 YONEX Taipei Open by Chi Yu Jen.
Top-seeded Chou, who had previously claimed the title in 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2022, was beaten by his younger teammate 19-21, 21-11, 21-17 in a hard-fought 73-minute battle. This marks Chi’s first victory over Chou after losing their previous three encounters.
For Chi, this is a breakthrough, surpassing last year’s Round of 16 finish. He now advances to face another fellow Taiwanese player, second-seeded Lin Chun-Yi, in the men’s singles final. Lin secured his spot by defeating Lee Chia Hao 21-12, 21-19.
In other action, top-seeded women’s doubles duo Benyapa and Nuntakarn Aimsaard from Thailand were also knocked out in the semifinals. They fell to Indonesia’s Jesita Putri Miantoro and Feni Setianingrum 17-21, 21-9, 21-18.
Indonesia will now take home the women’s doubles title, with second seeds Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Amallia Cahaya Pratiwi winning their semifinal match against Laksika Kanlaha and Phataimas Muenwong 25-23, 21-16.
Benyapa Aimsaard (Thai: เบญญาภา เอี่ยมสอาด, August 29, 2002) is a Thai women’s badminton player, and her older sister, Luntakarn Aimsaard, is a fellow badminton player, and the two were paired together to win the women’s doubles at the 2022 India Opsten Championship.
Benyapa Emsad began competing abroad at the age of 13 and made her debut in the finals of the Laos International Series, an adult category event, at the age of 15, when she lost to Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh 1-2 (12-21, 21-16, 21-11).
In 2019, Emsad won the women’s singles title at the Mongolian Junior Championships, won both the women’s singles and mixed doubles titles at the Indian Junior Championships, and helped Thailand win the mixed team title and third place in the women’s singles at the Asian Junior Championships, as well as third place in both the mixed team and the mixed doubles at the World Junior Championships that followed. In the adult category, Emsad also advanced to the Mixed Doubles and Women’s Singles finals at the Mongolia International and India International Challenge respectively.
In 2022, Benjapa partnered with her sister Lentakarn to win the partnership’s first title at the Indian Open Women’s Doubles Final, defeating Akchurina/Morozova 2-0 (21-13, 21-5).
World Ranking – Women’s Doubles 20, Week 32, 2024
Olympic Points – Women’s Doubles 15, 60744 points
Finals Ranking – Women’s Doubles 43, 17920 points
Equipment Used
ASTROX 88S PRO; DUORA 7 Dark Gunmetal Gray; AERUS Z MEN
Major Achievements
2024 Badminton Asia Championships Women’s Team Runner-up
