Christo Popov advances to the semifinals at the LI-NING China Masters 2025, securing his second consecutive podium finish after last week’s semifinal appearance at the LI-NING Hong Kong Open.

Today in Shenzhen, the French player was up against a strong opponent, Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn – the third seed in the tournament. But what was expected to be a close, exciting clash turned out to be a relatively calm match for Popov.

The French player looked in charge from the start. While the first part of the opening game was nothing out of the ordinary, Popov took off at 11-8 winning six consecutive points. Vitidsarn managed to get just three more points before Popov closed the first game 21-11.

In the second game, Popov had a strong lead once again. At 11-4, Vitidsarn retired. According to L’Équipe, Popov stated that the Thai player was not injured, but rather exhausted. Read the full article in L’Équipe.

We’ll now wait to see who Popov will face in the semifinals: either Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu Jen or China’s Weng Hong Yang, both playing in the second session of the day.

There’s an exciting match coming up, a must-watch quarterfinal featuring Anders Antonsen and Alex Lanier, scheduled for around 1:30pm (CEST).