New York: In the semi-finals of U.S. Open Badminton 2014, defending champion Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam won a 2-1 comeback against Wong Wing Ki of Hong Kong.
This is Nguyen’s third win against Wong in their fourth meetings. His only defeat to Wong happened in round 1 of Korea Open 2013 when he retired midway through the game due to injury.
Wong Wing Ki started the first set well and was leading 11-7 before at interval. Even though Nguyen answered the challenge by reclaiming the lead at 19-17, but Wong Wing Ki stayed calm and scored 4 consecutive points to close out the first set with 21-19.
Entering the second set, Tien Minh quickly outclassed Wong with 21-13 victory.
In the decider, Tien Minh gave no chance to Wong Wing Ki by leading all the way to clinch the third set at 21-14.
Tien Minh will play Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan in the final. Chou Tien Chen (ranked 22 in the world) lost to Tien Minh in their previous two clashes. The men’s singles champion will be rewarded $ 9,000.
