Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen made their first World Superseries 
semi-finals since April with a surprisingly one-sided win over Shin Baek Choel and Ko Sung Hyun.
The Danes, whose last semi-final appearance was at the Malaysia Open in April, were on fire from the beginning and never let go in the Victor Korea Open 2015 Men’s Doubles quarter-finals today. Fending off the fierce attacking game of the 2014 World champions, Boe and Mogensen eased to a 21-13 21-16 win in 40 minutes.
“Obviously it was a good match for us, it’s never an easy task to beat a home pair,” said Boe (featured image).
“We tried to put pressure on them throughout, we tried to control the service and receiving and then get the attack, and we succeeded in that through big parts of the match. So we’re pleased. The conditions are slow, and our defence worked perfect today. That’s necessary when you face an extremely hard attack.”
Asked about their physical condition following recent sickness, Boe said: “We had some medicine last week in Japan. We both feel better, and of course to reach the semis in Korea when we haven’t been practising for three weeks is a good result. It’s nice to challenge for the title without being 100 percent.”
In other matches, China’s Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan also made the Men’s Doubles semi-finals beating Malaysia’s Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong, 21-16 21-12. Yonex Open Japan champion Nozomi Okuhara was stopped by China’s Wang Yihan 21-19 21-13 in the Women’s Singles quarter-finals, while her compatriot Wang Shixian (below) outplayed Li Xuerui to book an all-China semi-final against Wang Yihan. Local hope Son Wan Ho could not sustain the pressure on defending champion Chen Long (China) in Men’s Singles after a bright start. Chen faces Japan’s Kento Momota (above), who faced little trouble from Hong Kong’s Wei Nan, 21-13 21-16.
India’s Ajay Jayaram made his second Superseries semi-final with a hard-fought 21-19 16-21 21-16 result over Japan’s Sho Sasaki.
“I’ve had it easier against him in the past as I’ve been able to catch him with my deceptive strokes,” said Jayaram, who’d lost six months last year due to a shoulder injury. “Today he was prepared for that, so it was a tough match.”
Women’s Singles No.4 seed Wang Yihan was put through a stern test by 
Okuhara in the opening game, with the Chinese just about squeezing through. In typical style, Okuhara forced Wang in long rallies; her fleet-footedness ensuring she was in place to repel all of Wang’s steep shots from the back. A bit of luck helped Wang at the end, when the shuttle caught the tape and died over it; once the game was won, Okuhara had trouble sustaining her level in the second, with many of her clears going out.
It was a similar story in the Men’s Singles when Wang’s compatriot Chen Long took on Son Wan Ho. The Korean played a razor sharp game, keeping a tight leash on the shuttle and disallowing Chen any room to impose himself. Having blown two game points, however, Son lost his intensity in the second and Chen quickly shut him out 25-23 21-13.
After a disappointing early session, things went Korea’s way, with three local pairs overcoming higher-ranked opponents.
Australian Open champions Ma Jin and Tang Yuanting fell to a Korean pair for the third successive time; this time it was Jung Kyung Eun and Shin Seung Chan (below) who got the better of them in a thriller, 14-21 21-17 21-19. Chang Ye Na and Lee So Hee had earlier edged past Denmark’s Christinna Pedersen/Kamilla Rytter Juhl 21-16 21-19, and Men’s Doubles pair Kim Gi Jung and Kim Sa Rang made it past a jaded Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan 21-17 21-18.
The biggest surprise was the capitulation of China’s Yu Yang/Wang Xiaoli in the first game of the Women’s Doubles quarter-finals to Indonesia’s Greysia Polii/Nitya Krishinda Maheswari. Having lost the first game 21-4, the Chinese mounted a harder challenge in the second but went down 21-4 21-18.
In Mixed Doubles, World Championships runners-up Liu Cheng/Bao Yixin (China) were shown the door by local pair Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na, 15-21 21-19 21-12. The Koreans take on top seeds Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei. England’s Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock made their first Superseries semi-final this year beating Thailand’s Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam 21-16 21-17. The England pair (below) take on Indonesia’s Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir, who beat China’s Lu Kai/Huang Yaqiong 16-21 21-11 21-17.
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