Unseeded Chou Tien-chen reaches BWF French Open final

The Chinese Taipei player has enjoyed a fine tournament, with his previous scalps including reigning champion Jan O Jorgensen and eighth-seeded Dane Axelsen.

And he rose to the occasion on the big stage again to win 14-21 21-18 21-19 in a match which lasted one hour and 10 minutes in Paris.

Sugiarto went into the clash as the favourite as the fourth seed, but it is Chou who surges on and into Sunday's final, in which he will meet Wang Zhengming of China.

Fifth seed Wang cruised through in comfortable fashion as he defeated Japan's Kento Momota 21-12 21-17, setting up a final that few would have predicted.

That is not the case in the women's singles, though, with the first and second seeds living up to their pre-tournament billing by securing their places in an all-Chinese final.

Li Xuerui eased past Ratchanok Intanon 21-18 21-12 to reach her 10th final from as many tournaments this season, completing the victory in just 37 minutes.

Her compatriot and second-seeded Wang Shixian took even less time to dispatch Yihan Wang, winning 21-12 22-20 in 32 minutes to set up a final clash with Li on Sunday.