Home » BWF World Championships 2022: Champions dethroned in men’s singles, men’s doubles

BWF World Championships 2022: Champions dethroned in men’s singles, men’s doubles

There will be two new champions who will be crowned at the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2022. Defending titleholders Loh Kean Yew of Singapore as well as Hoki Takuro and Kobayashi Yugo of Japan were unseated from their throne on the fifth day of the tournament.

Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand cuffed the 2021 men’s division titleholder in three thrilling games, 21-12, 17-21, 21-8.

Loh appeared to have run out of steam in the pivotal segment of the match, as the Thai never relinquished the high ground. It looked to be over for the Singaporean when Vitidsarn scored five straight points, 11-3.

“View” will be taking on Zhao Junpeng of China in the semis.

Zhao foiled Prannoy HS of India, 19-21, 21-6, 21-18.

In men’s doubles, meanwhile, Hoki and Kobayashi were dealt with by Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty of India with the score of 24-22, 15-21, 21-14.

The Japanese pair were practically in catch up mode for most of the match. They found themselves trailing, 5-12, in the first game before they were able to even up the tally at 14-all. The two sides traded blows until the seventh seeds managed to score the critical points to take the game.

Hoki and Kobayashi pulled away from an 8-all deadlock in the second game to force the winner-take-all frame. In the third game, Rankireddy and Shetty zoomed ahead, 11-5. From there, it was just a matter of keeping distance from their pursuers.

Part of the Thomas Cup 2022 Finals winning squad, Rankireddy and Shetty will lock horns against Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in the penultimate match.

Chia and Soh folded Choi Sol-gyu and Seo Seung-jae of Korea, 21-18, 21-16.

At the same time, the other semis matchup will feature two Indonesian teams, as Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan will figure against fifth seeds Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto.

The “Daddies” won against Arjun MR and Dhruv Kapila of India, 21-8, 21-14. Alfian and Ardianto defeated the team who eliminated the “Minions”, Ben Lane and Sean Vendy of England, 21-11, 21-16.