Kunlavut, mixed pair exit in KL semis

All Thai players bowed out in the semi-finals of the BWF Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Men’s singles hope Kunlavut Vitidsarn fell to Kodai Naraoka of Japan 21-17, 19-21, 21-17 in the semi-finals at Axiata Arena in the Malaysian capital.

Naraoka will play the winner of the second semi-final between top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan.

Mixed doubles second seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai also exited the World Tour Super 1000 event at the last-four stage yesterday.

They went down to third seeds Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino of Japan 21-18, 21-15.

The Japanese duo will face top seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China in the decider today.

Zheng and Huang defeated Dejan Ferdinansyah and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja 21-16, 21-18 in the other semi-final.

In the women’s singles event, second seed An…