The Dane, who has never made the last four of a regular Superseries tournament, claimed a 21-19, 21-16 victory to secure second spot in Group A of the men's singles behind China's Chen Long.

Opponent Tago's campaign ended with a solitary win and two defeats to his name, while Korea's Son Wan Ho, one of the pre-tournament favourites, lost his first match and then retired midway through his second.

"Tago seemed a bit slow today compared to other times," said Vittinghus.

"I felt he was not moving like he usually does.

"That made me anxious because I really wanted to win.

"I had trouble being focussed on the game plan instead of the result.

"I kept fighting with it all the way through.

"In the end I had good control, and from the middle of the second game I was not in doubt."

Denmark's Jan Ø Jørgensen topped Group B in the men's singles after overcoming India's Kidambi Srikanth 17-21 21-12 21-14 ©Getty Images


Vittinghus added: "Being in the semi-finals is great, it's the perfect way to finish the year.

"Hopefully it won't stop here.

"No matter who makes it through the group, I have a chance of winning my match."

Fellow Dane Jan Ø Jørgensen was in a must-win situation in his final men's singles Group B match against India's Kidambi Srikanth, who only needed to win a game to assure himself a place in the last four.

With Srikanth playing at a fiery pace and taking the first game, Jorgensen had his back to the wall but he came through after a tricky period in the third game.

A 17-21, 21-12, 21-14 victory saw him top the group on points difference, with Srikanth finishing second and Japan's Kento Momota third.

"He needed to win one set; I had to keep doing my best, keep getting every shuttle over the net," said Jørgensen.

"You could see he was a bit slow in the second and third.

"I'm happy to come through even though I was struggling."

Momota did his part to keep alive his ambitions of qualifying for the semi-finals by beating Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto, but Jørgensen's win over Srikanth scuppered his chances.

The women's singles top seed, Wang Shixian of China, failed to put a point on the board from her three Group A matches ©Getty Images



The event could not have gone worse for Wang Shixian as the women's singles top seed finished without a point from her three Group A matches.

Wang's misery was complete after South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun eased past her 21-7, 21-11 to claim second spot.

"I've been playing badly as I've [had] blisters on my feet," said Wang.

"I need to review the results this year with my coaches and hope to come back strongly next season."

In the same group, title favourite Saina Nehwal of India had her hands full against South Korea's Bae Yeon Ju, whose pace and power mixed with the odd soft shot kept her chasing the shuttle.

However, the South Korean could not sustain that high pace and it was Nehwal who prevailed 15-21, 21-7, 21-17.

"My aim was to win the match even though I knew I had made the semi-finals after winning the second game," said Nehwal.

"When I'm on court, I want to win each match and not give my opponent the confidence that she can beat me the next time."

Japan's Akane Yamaguchi topped Group B, beating Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying 19-21 21-14 21-17.

Denmark's Christinna Pedersen (left) and Kamilla Rytter Juhl (right) lost out to South Korea's Jung Kyung Eun and Kim Ha Na as the defence of their women's doubles title came to an end ©Getty Images



Denmark's Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl saw the defence of their women's doubles title ended at the first hurdle as they went down 21-5, 21-18 to South Korea's Jung Kyung Eun and Kim Ha Na in Group A.

World champions Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei sealed their place on top of Group B with a 21-14 21-11 triumph over Japan's Miyuki Maeda and Reika Kakiiwa.

In Group A of the men's doubles, China's Chai Biao and Hong Wei won the virtual play-off for the semi-finals, beating world champions Ko Sung Hyun and Shin Baek Choel of South Korea 15-21 21-15 21-17.

Japan's Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa sealed their semi-final place, beating Chinese Taipei's Lee Sheng Mu and Tsai Chia Hsin 21-8 21-14 in Group B.

"Lee and Tsai played last night so it seemed like they were tired," said Hayakawa.

"We had more time to rest so we were fresh.

"We knew we had to win this match to make the semi-finals.

"We were disappointed yesterday because we had a 19-16 lead in the second game but we lost to [Mathias] Boe and [Carsten] Mogensen."

Elsewhere, China's Liu Cheng and Bao Yixin overcame Denmark's Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Pedersen to top Group B in the mixed doubles.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
December 2014: Injuries see exit of title contenders on day two of BWF World Superseries Finals