The match everyone had circled opened Day 3 at the ROKETTO Badminton Centre, and it lived up to it. Andika Ramadiansyah and Nozomi Shimizu, who defeated Lin Bing-Wei and Lin Yen Yu 21-12, 21-14 in the Bendigo final, faced the same Chinese Taipei pair in the mixed doubles round of 16. This time there was no 30-minute finish.
The top seeds lost the first game, then won 17-21, 21-16, 21-19 in 1 hour 4 minutes, the longest mixed doubles match of the round. The third game stood at 14-all, and the last two rallies were frantic, with all four players flying across the court in desperation. When Shimizu hit the final shot to win the match, all four collapsed to the ground.
Five of the last eight
That result set the tone. Five of the eight mixed doubles quarter-finalists are Oceania pairs.
Timotius Elbert and Sylvina Kurniawan defeated fellow Australians Chauncey Yu and Maureen Clarissa Wijaya 21-17, 21-15. Third seeds Rio Agustino and Priska Kustiadi needed three games, defeating Yu Wei Lin and Hsieh Mi Yen 21-15, 18-21, 22-20 in 51 minutes. Fifth seeds Raphael Chris Deloy (NZL) and Sydney Tjonadi (AUS) were never troubled, defeating fellow Australians Jordan Wang and Jazmine Lam 21-8, 21-10. Jack Yu and Angela Yu moved through when Malaysia’s Tan Yi Han and Khor Jing Wen retired, with the Australians leading 21-11, 17-21, 14-8.
New Zealand’s Jonathan Curtin and Jenny Zhu, who won their Day 1 match 21-9, 21-6, took the first game against Lin Ting-Yu and Tsai Ruo Lin but lost 11-21, 21-12, 21-10.
Double duty
Several players are alive in two events. Deloy and Jack Yu are in the quarter-finals of both the mixed and men’s doubles, and Shimizu is through in the women’s doubles with Laudya Chelsea Griselda. The second seeds defeated Jing Yun Chiu and Tjonadi 21-10, 21-9, which ended Tjonadi’s women’s doubles run.
Richardson takes another seed
In the men’s singles, Ken Richardson followed his Day 2 win over fourth seed Alap Mishra by defeating eleventh seed Samuel Lee 23-21, 21-12 in 48 minutes. Lee was a Bendigo men’s doubles semi-finalist, so it was a statement win. Thirteenth seed Muhammad Rafi Zafran Ferary joins Richardson in the last eight, defeating fellow Australian Kai Chen Teoh 21-8, 21-5.
Shrey Dhand’s run ended against the top of the draw. The tenth seed lost 21-12, 21-11 to second seed Liao Jhuo-Fu, who won the Bendigo title.
Gao carries the women’s singles
Rui Gao is the only Oceania player left in the women’s singles. The eighth seed defeated India’s Aadhya Shine 21-8, 20-22, 21-10 in 54 minutes. Gao defeated India’s Garima Kundu in the Bendigo round of 16, and Kundu is also into the last eight after defeating fourth seed Mikaela Joy de Guzman 21-15, 21-18. Alphonsa Bijomon lost 21-11, 21-14 to Yi Tsen Hsieh.
Men’s doubles: four pairs through
Four Oceania pairs are in the men’s doubles last eight. Michael Owen and Jack Yu, the Bendigo semi-finalists, defeated Lu Chia Hung and Lu Chia Pin 21-15, 19-21, 21-16 in 1 hour 4 minutes. Rizky Hidayat and Pramudya Kusumawardana defeated Raphael Lydra and Nicholas Tran Quan Pham 21-8, 21-11, and Phillip Halim and Landon Hosea Kurniawan defeated Malaysia’s Chen Hong Chew and Minh Trung Faris Truong 21-19, 21-6.
The match of the round was an all-Oceania one. New Zealand’s Deloy and Dylan Soedjasa defeated Agustino and Elbert 21-16, 19-21, 21-16 in 54 minutes. Keith Mark Edison and Samuel Lee, who both reached the Bendigo semi-finals, lost 21-11, 21-6 to top seeds Huang Tsung-I and Lin Ting-Yu.
Women’s doubles: a long match for Teoh
Khor Jing Wen and Bernice Teoh defeated Kustiadi and Wijaya 21-18, 22-24, 21-19 in 1 hour 3 minutes, ending the Australian pair’s run.
What’s next
Our players hold five of eight mixed doubles quarter-final places, four of eight in the men’s doubles, two in the men’s singles, one in the women’s singles and at least one in the women’s doubles.
