Thailand Open badminton: Axelsen, Marin through to finals

Bangkok, January 16 (IANS): Danish fourth seed Viktor Axelsen will face Hong Kong's seventh seed Angus Ng Ka Long in the men's singles final of the Thailand Open badminton on Sunday. In the women's final, world No.1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei will face Spanish Olympic champion and fifth seed Carolina Marin.

Axelsen beat Indonesia's Anthony Ginting in the semi-final on Saturday while Angus Ng beat Chinese Taipei second seed Chou Tien Chen. While Axelsen won his match 21-19, 13-21, 21-13 in one hour and three minutes, Angus Ng won 17-21, 21-18, 21-15 in an hour and six minutes.

Tai beat Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt, who started the tournament by beating reigning world champion PV Sindhu, 21-8, 23-21. Marin, on the other hand, beat South Korean seventh seed An Se Young 21-18, 21-16.

In men's doubles finals, Malaysia's Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong face Chinese Taipei's Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin. Thai seventh seeded pair Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai face faces Indonesia's Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu in finals of the women's doubles category.

The top two seeds will face off in mixed doubles with Indonesian second seeds Praveen Jordan and Melati Oktavianti playing first seeded Thai pair Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachi.