No. 4 seeds Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge (pictured) and unseeded pair of Liu Cheng/Zhang Nan of China will meet in Saturday’s semi-final of the 120.000 Dollars event Yonex Swiss Open. The English pair, who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, managed to battle past Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen/David Daugaard 22-20, 17-21, 21-19 on Friday - after almost 90 minutes of play.

Lin Dan through to the semi-finals

Top seed Lin Dan will face Anthony Ginting of Indonesia after both players stormed into the semi-finals on Friday. China’s badminton icon wrapped up a 21-17, 21-14 win in 47 minutes against Ihsan Mustofa.

Lin Dan won the tournament in Switzerland in 2004 and 2008.

Indonesia’s Ginting, meanwhile, had to battle back from a game down to edge Denmark’s Emil Holst 17-21, 21-15, 21-13.

Lin and Ginting have only met on one previous occasion, two years ago, when the Chinese shuttler came out on top. The second semi-final sees sixth seed Tzu Wei Wang take on second seed Shi Yuqi.

Stoeva sisters beat Konon/Herttrich to reach semis

Bulgaria’s women’s duo Stefani and Gabriela Stoeva stormed into the semi-finals with a 21-19, 21-6 victory over Germany’s Isabel Herttrich/Olga Konon. The world no. 13 and no. 4 seeds in Basel will now face Bao Yixin/Yu Xiaohan of China.

Maiken Fruergaard and Sara Thygesen saw off Vivian Hoo and Khe Wei Won of Malaysia in three games 21-18, 8-21, 21-15 to advance to the last four stage in Switzerland. The Danish duo will now face Chen Qingchen/ Jia Yifan, the top seeds from China.

BWF's official YouTube channel, badmintonworld.tv, will show tomorrow's semi-finals of the Yonex Swiss Open.

Check out the official tournament's website of the Yonex Swiss Open.

Yonex Swiss Open semifinals with European interest:

MD: Marcus Ellis/Chris Langridge (ENG) - Liu Cheng/Zhang Nan (CHN)
WD: Maiken Fruergaard/Sara Thygesen (DEN) - Chen Qingchen/ Jia Yifan (CHN)
WD: Stefani Stoeva/Gabriela Stoeva (BUL) - Bao Yixin/Yu Xiaohan (CHN)

Recent Yonex Swiss Open champions from Europe:

2016: Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (DEN)

2014: Viktor Axelsen (DEN) / Chris and Gabby Adcock (ENG)

2013: Joachim Fischer/Christinna Pedersen (DEN)

2011: Joachim Fischer/Christinna Pedersen (DEN)

2006: Xu Huaiwen (GER) / Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms (ENG)

Click HERE for all results of the Yonex Swiss Open.

Article by Manuel Rösler. Photo by BadmintonPhoto.