The word "半决赛" (bàn jué sài), meaning "semifinal," is a logical compound formed by combining three characters: "半" (bàn) meaning "half," "决" (jué) meaning "to decide" or "to determine," and "赛" (sài) meaning "match" or "competition." Literally, it constructs the concept of a "half-deciding match," which perfectly describes the penultimate stage of a knockout tournament where the winners advance to the final round; it is the round that decides half (or two) of the finalists, hence a competition that decides the participants for the ultimate final.