Malaysia Open: Two Decades On, China Back in Five Finals

For the first time in 20 years, China have a shot at all five titles on offer at the Malaysia Open.

The Chinese had a splendid day at Axiata Arena – their representatives winning three of the four semifinals against opponents from another country. The only setback was the first Chinese to take to court, women’s pair Li Yi Jing/Luo Xu Min, who lost 21-13 23-21 to in-form Japanese duo Yuki Fukushima/Mayu Matsumoto.

The matches that followed all went China’s way – Wang Zhi Yi sidestepping Pornpicha Choeikeewong 21-16 21-12 before Malaysian hearts were broken by Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping and Chen Bo Yang/Liu Yi. Mixed doubles top seeds Feng/Huang defeated Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei 21-19 21-14 while Chen/Liu overcame Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun 24-26 21-16 21-15.

Two all-China matches took place earlier – the first one won by Jia Yi Fan/Zhang Shu Xian against top seeds Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning 19-21 21-16 21-17 in the longest contest of the day that lasted 91 minutes.

Referring to the 82-minute second round tussle against Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand Pullela, Jia joked: “First 80 minutes, now 90. I hope I have the energy to play 100 minutes in the final. That would make me happy.”

Liu/Tan’s fate didn’t befall men’s singles top seed Shi Yu Qi, the world No.1 outlasting compatriot Li Shi Feng 16-21 21-5 21-12 in 62-minute battle.

“Towards the end, we were both tired due to many long rallies,” said Shi. “When the energy level drops, it’s easy to make mistakes. Due to the huge points-gap, he had to play faster and attack. I just tried to defend and hold him off.”

The last time China were in all the finals in 2005, they took home two titles via Zhang Ning (women’s singles) and Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen (women’s doubles). It was also the edition at which Lee Chong Wei first beat Lin Dan to win the second of his record 12 Malaysia Open crowns.

Results (Semifinals)

Order of play (Finals)


WHAT OTHERS SAID

“She’s perfect the way she is. I’ve learned a lot from her. Every match against her is an honour.” – An Se Young when asked if Ratchanok Intanon could take a thing or two from her game

“We were really happy and excited throughout the match. We get enjoyment out of this journey every day.” – Mayu Matsumoto on why she was more animated than usual in the win over Li/Luo

“They were playing well, almost like a mixed doubles pair, it was tough. Kudos to them. We can take a lot of learnings from them and we gave them a good fight. Maybe some mind games would have helped but they’re a great pair and if they keep playing like this, they can absolutely win the tournament.”Satwiksairaj Rankireddy gives his take on who will win the men’s doubles title.

“It’s very good to have a full crowd. Whether it’s in Malaysia or China, the fans are so passionate, supporting us from the first point to the last, cheering non-stop. It’s definitely good for the badminton world and it inspires athletes like us to have more motivation to bring excitement to matches for them.”  – Huang Dong Ping on a packed Axiata Arena.

“It was good to play against Kodai (Naraoka) again, it’s been about a year. We’ve had some fun battles in the past. He always brings the best out of me to be tough and fight hard.”Anders Antonsen on his nine battles against the Japanese shuttler.

Antonsen (R) says Naraoka brings out the ‘best in him’ when they compete.

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