【Hong Kong Badminton Open】Indonesian Men’s Doubles World Champion Advances to Final, Chen Yufei and Intanon Vie for Women’s Singles Title
The semi-finals of “YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships 2019” kicked off today (Nov 16). The reigning Men’s Doubles world champion, Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan from Indonesia, fended off No. 3 seeded Chinese pair in three sets for a spot in the final, and they will strive to be crowned again in Hong Kong following their 2014 victory. In Women’s Singles, Ratchanok Intanon from Thailand overcame Japanese player Akane Yamaguchi to reach the final for the second consecutive year, and will compete for the title against Chen Yufei from China tomorrow.
There have been many dominant Men’s Doubles pairs from Indonesia, including the World No.1 duo, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, who was upset in the quarterfinal yesterday. But there is still hope for the Indonesian team to win the Men’s Doubles title of the Hong Kong Open, namely the veteran pair comprising 35-year-old Hendra Setiawan and 32-year-old Mohammad Ahsan. The players, who are currently ranked at World No.2, have won the third World Championships double title together this year. They took on No.3 seeded Chinese pair Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen today, marking their fifth match-up in 2019, and the head-to-head so far this year has been 3-1 for the Indonesian pair. In today’s match, the Indonesian pair grabbed the first set smoothly at 21:13 before losing the second set at 16:21. But Setiawan and Ahsan were able to recover their game in time in the decider, scoring 7 points in a row to rally from behind to seal the match at 21:16.
The world-class Indonesian pair admitted after the match they are not young anymore and have to take more time for rest amid an intensive tournament schedule. Setiawan remarked: “As we have to maintain a high-intensity training during competition, we have to spend more time for recovery during the break.” Ahsan said light-heartedly that there are limits to their physical conditions so what they could only do is to rest more and replenish energy through food and drinks. The Indonesian duo will have a chance tomorrow to be crowned in the Hong Kong Open once again after their 2014 victory.
In Women’s Singles, No.5 seed Ratchanok Intanon from Thailand battled against No. 2 seeded Japanese player Akane Yamaguchi in the semi-final. Though Yamaguchi took the first set at 23:21, Intanon completed a thrilling comeback in the next two sets at 21:15, 21:12, and reached the final of the Hong Kong Open for the second year in a row. The Thai player said after the match: “I had advantage today in terms of stamina as my opponent was pretty fatigued after the Fuzhou China Open. Following the loss in the final last year, I hope I could play my best game this year.”
The Women’s Singles winner of the recently-held Fuzhou China Open, Chen Yufei powered through Zhang Beiwen from the United States in another semi-final match in three sets (21:18, 14:21, 21:15), booking a place in the final tomorrow against Intanon. Chen said excitedly after the match: “It’s my first time to advance to the Hong Open final, so I’m thrilled. I made more unforced errors in the second set today, and my opponent had once narrowed the gap to only 1 point in the third set, but fortunately, I could stand the pressure. I hope I will play my best badminton in the final.”
Tickets of “YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships 2019” have been available for sale at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk), with the price ranging from $40 to $680. Concession tickets are available for students and senior citizens in some of the sessions.
Tomorrow schedule:
14:00 | WS | CHEN Yu Fei (CHN) | VS | Ratchanok INTANON (THA) |
Followed by | MD | CHOI Solgyu/SEO Seung Jae (KOR) | VS | Mohammad AHSAN/Hendra SETIAWAN (INA) |
Followed by | WD | CHANG Ye Na/KIM Hye Rin (KOR) | VS | CHEN Qing Chen/JIA Yi Fan (CHN) |
Followed by | MS | LEE Cheuk Yiu (HKG) | VS | Anthony Sinisuka GINTING (INA) |
Followed by | XD | Yuta WATANABE/Arisa HIGASHINO (JPN) | VS | HE Ji Ting/DU Yue (CHN) |