Indonesia got everything right in today’s semifinals of the DAIHATSU YONEX Japan Open 2019, assuring themselves of the men’s doubles crown, besides earning a shot at two more titles.

For the second successive week, the men’s doubles final will see Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo take on their seniors, Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan.

Match of the Day

The ‘Minions’ won the only three-game contest of the day, beating world champions Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu Chen 16-21 21-11 21-18.

The ‘Twin Towers’, Li and Liu, put up a far better show against Gideon and Sukamuljo than they had last week in Indonesia, when they were blown away 21-9 21-13. Today they were in the match until the end, with the Minions only pulling away after 18-all in the third, and winning the match after Li Jun Hui fluffed a flick serve from Sukamuljo.

Ahsan and Setiawan were in sizzling form as they took apart Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda in the second game. With the shuttle playing quicker than in Indonesia, both Ahsan and Setiawan got more purchase with their smashes, while their quickfire drive game kept the Japanese pinned back and open to the sudden net shot, which both Ahsan and Setiawan excel at. The second game was one-way traffic, with the Japanese unable to decipher the constricting play of the Indonesians.

Other Results

• Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti outplayed compatriots Hafiz Faizal/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in the mixed doubles semifinals, and now have a shot at their biggest title. It will be a rematch of the India Open final tomorrow when they take on Wang Yi Lyu and Huang Dong Ping.
• Jonatan Christie got to within one win of his biggest World Tour title. Christie made his way past Jan O Jorgensen, 21-14 21-14.

Talking Point

“If you look at Wang and Huang’s matches this tournament, they’ve won in straight games and they have led by a big distance. We’ve lost to them twice in finals, of course we don’t want to lose a third time. We have to watch out in the rallies, we have to hold on and be consistent.” – Praveen Jordan, on tomorrow’s mixed doubles final.