Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet broke the spell of China’s decade-long dominance of mixed doubles at the Badminton Asia Championships, ensuring the final would have no Chinese presence for the first time since 2015. China won every mixed doubles title since 2016.
The Hong Kong China pair were up against Jiang Zheng Bang/Wei Ya Xin, whom they had never beaten in four meetings. They turned it around in surprisingly dominant fashion today, surprising the top seeds 21-16 21-17 in 42 minutes.
“Maybe some of our strengths are not enough,” said Wei Ya Xin. “Why did we lose this game today? It’s actually related to some of my own tactics and technique. Our opponents played very targeted today, but they didn’t score. I think we will also face this tactic at the next stage and have to make adjustments.“
Hiroki Midorikawa & Natsu Saito
The other semifinal saw Hiroki Midorikawa/Natsu Saito save a match point before beating Indonesia’s Jafar Hidayatullah/Felisha Alberta Pasaribu. Midorikawa/Saito have a chance of becoming the first Japanese pair to win the title.
Although the hosts suffered a few setbacks on semifinals day, they were still able to ensure their presence in four finals, with the women’s singles already in the bag as Chen Yu Fei and Han Yue comfortably made the title round.
In men’s doubles, defending champions Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang were blown away in just 31 minutes by Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik, but young Chinese pair Chen Bo Yang/Liu Yi kept the hosts in the hunt for gold by beating Leo Rolly Carnando/Bagas Maulana in three games.
Kunlavut Vitidsarn
In men’s singles Kunlavut Vitidsarn saw off Loh Kean Yew 23-21 21-10, and will take on Lu Guang Zu, who beat fourth seeded compatriot Li Shi Feng in a long-drawn encounter.
“He put a lot of pressure on me, so it was difficult to control the shuttle well,” said Loh. “Plus his confidence and mine were definitely not the same in the second game, so I played worse. “I haven’t been able to adjust myself well, so I need to improve some things.”
Zheng Yu Bids Goodbye
Zheng Yu (left) and Zhang Shu Xian
Women’s doubles saw Zheng Yu call it a day after she and Zhang Shu Xian fell to compatriots Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning.
“I think I’m very happy,” said Zheng. “First of all, I played really well this time and released myself on the court, which is something I’ve never felt before. Although I didn’t play very well today, I was very happy with myself for the whole leg of the campaign. Second, I’m happy to play against my old opponents again. I’m happy that Zhang Shuxian has grown. She has indeed grown a lot and changed a lot on the court. She will take all the energy I gave her and move on. There is no sadness, I am very sunny and optimistic.”
BWF Newsletter
