Chinese Taipei twins make surprising Men’s Doubles semi-finals; Chiharu Shida and Arisa Igarashi still smile despite defeat in Women’s Doubles

“LI-NING Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships 2025 part of the HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500” held its quarter-finals at the Hong Kong Coliseum on Friday when the fairy tale of Chinese Taipei twins continued in the Men’s Doubles by reaching their first semi-finals in Hong Kong. The unseeded pair of Li Fang-Chih and Li Fang-Jen, now rank 22 in the world,  stunned Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani, the seventh seeds of Indonesia, in straight games 23-21, 21-17. In the Women’s Doubles, Chiharu Shida and Arisa Igarashi of Japan lost to compatriots Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi 2-1 (21-19, 12-21, 19-21) in a 62-minute battle, ending their first world tour appearance with a quarter-finals berth. But both Shida and Igarashi remained smiling despite the result as fans showed strong support to the new pair.

It’s the third consecutive appearance for the Chinese Taipei twin brothers in Hong Kong and although they upset the then world number one pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia two years ago, they never made it beyond the quarter-finals. But the third time lucky gave them a spot in the last four, also their best result so far in a Super 500 event, after overcoming the Indonesian seedings in 52 minutes. In fact, the twins also upset world number three Malaysian pair of Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin 2-1 (14-21, 21-16, 21-13) in the second round before reaching the quarters.

The two Lees said it was a good match for the fans. “We were able to perform what we did during training with a calm attitude but the opponents also did their job very well. Together we have made it a very good match. In the end, whoever responded better on court and took the opportunity quicker became the winner,” the twins said.

Reaching their first semi-finals in Hong Kong, the two Lees still remained humble, saying they were in a learning process. “We are very happy of course. But we won’t think too much at this stage, just enjoy the next game and try to avoid injury.”

The other semi-finals will be held between another Chinese Taipei pair of Chen Cheng-Kuan/Lin Bing-Wei and India pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty.

Although Shida and Igarashi are new combination in the Women’s Doubles, each player has already had some very convincing results under their belt. Shida only broke up with her former partner Nami Matsuyama after they lifted a bronze medal at the recent Worlds in Paris while Igarashi is a two-time Mixed Doubles bronze medallist of the Olympic Games.

Against fellow countrywomen Iwanaga and Nakanishi, the fourth seeds, they made a good start after coming from 14-19 behind to snatch seven consecutive points to take the first game. But unfortunately that was the best they could offer, losing the two remaining games 12-21 and 19-21 as they ended their first outing in the world tour with a quarter-finals berth.

Fans, however, still showed great support to the new pair, giving them a big round of applause when they left the court as the two players kept their smile despite the result.