Yamaguchi beats Olympic champion Chen to reach Japan Open final

OSAKA, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Olympic champion Chen Yufei suffered her second defeat in a week to Akane Yamaguchi in the women's singles semifinals of the Japan Open badminton tournament here on Saturday.

Yamaguchi, who beat Chen in a three-set thriller in the world championships final last Sunday, fought back from one set down and 14-9 behind in the third set to win 15-21, 21-16, 24-22.

The Japanese star ha