The world class players from Indonesia and China opened proceedings on semi finals day at the Crown Group Australian Badminton Open 2019.
Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu were looking to reprise their quarter final exit at this year’s All England Championships against Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan. The Chinese dominated the first game, before the Indonesia’s fought back to control the second. The third game was anyone’s for the taking, but ultimately…
- Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan (CHN)[3] vs Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu (INA)[5] 21-13 14-21 21-18
“Although it was a tough match, we are very satisfied with our performance, our opponents and us played very well today.” – Chen Qingchen
Meanwhile, there was a dramatic end to Matsumoto and Takahashi’s semi final campaign as the third and final game went down to the wire. At 20-20 a heated disagreement between the pair and the technical officials over a line call seemed to agitate the pair. With no hawk-eye available, play eventually resumed, and the game concluded in favour of their compatriots and second seeds:
- Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (JPN)[2] vs Misaki Matsumoto/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN)[4] 15-21 21-15 23-21
“In the end, both pairs were being offensive by getting net. How many chances we made was reflected on how many points we get. Making ideal offence was the key.” – Yuki Fukushima
After ousting the sixth and fourth seeds on route to the semi final, it looked like Korea’s Choi Solgyu and Seo Seung Jae were going to shock the first seeds as well.
The pair were up by one game and leveled 16-16 in the second. With the pressure mounting on their first seed opponents, the experience of Japan’s Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda shone through as they held their nerve to recover and eventually win in three games.
- Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonodo (JPN)[1] vs Choi Solgyu/Seo Seung Jae (KOR) 23-25 21=19 21-14
“After the opponents won the first set and lead in the second, we knew we had to stay positive and were patient” – Keigo Sonoda
“I think we can win the final if we concentrate enough until the end. We would like to work on that and be well prepared” – Takeshi Kamura
In the mixed doubles, Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti were eager to make up for last month’s loss in the New Zealand Open final, and booked their slot in tomorrow’s final after a stunning victory over Japan’s second seeds Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino.
- Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti (INA)[6] vs Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino (JPN)[2] 21-13 12-21 21-17
In tomorrow’s final, the Indonesian’s will be joined by the first seeds and world number two pair, Huang Dongping and Wang Yilyu, after a highly convincing win today.
Wang Yilyu/Huang Dongping (CHN)[1] vs Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet (HKG)
Check out all of the results and statistics from the semi finals, along with the draw for tomorrow’s final on Tournament Software.
