Francesca Corbett and Jennie Gai broke new ground at SATHIO GROUP Australian Open 2025, making the semifinals of an HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament for the first time, a rare feat for a USA women’s pair.

The world No.38 duo overcame the loss of the opening game to beat No.29 Hu Ling Fang/Jheng Yu Chieh 10-21 21-10 21-12.

Next up will be Indonesia’s Rachel Alleyssya Rose/Febi Setianingrum.

“I was trying not to think too much of it before we went into the match,” said Gai. “How we won our first few rounds was one point at a time, one game at a time, even though our opponents were strong. So, I went into this match with the same mindset. It wasn’t as physically taxing as our last match but it was harder mentally to keep our focus, especially at the end with a big gap. There’s always that ‘oh no don’t let them catch up’. When the last bird hit the ground and it was out, it was relief and a lot of happiness because it’s a tangible result of our hard work.”

Shootout Semifinal

Meanwhile, mixed doubles is set for a shootout in the semifinals to determine the last spot for qualification to the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals. Both contenders – Thailand’s Ruttanapak Oupthong/Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat and Indonesia’s Jafar Hidayatullah/Felisha Pasaribu – clinched their semifinal places with contrasting wins.

While the Thai pair cruised through in straight games, the Indonesians had to dig deep to beat HYLO Open champions Mathias Christiansen/Alexandra Boje 17-21 21-16 21-13.

Another Indonesian pair – Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri – who are also in contention for the World Tour Finals in men’s doubles, scored an impressive straight-games win over top seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, 21-19 21-15.

Lin Advances

In men’s singles, Lin Chun-Yi, whose chances of qualifying to Hangzhou depend on him winning the Australian Open, kept alive his campaign with a 21-17 21-10 demolition of Shogo Ogawa.

“I’m still trying to go step by step, but one game closer, I feel pretty good. I did well today as I didn’t have a lot of errors. Going forward, I just need to stick to my attacking pace throughout the match and see how it goes on the day,” said Lin.

→ Results (Quarterfinals)

→ Results (Semifinals)

WHAT THEY SAID

“I felt a bit of pressure because I really want to make it to the World Tour Finals. I didn’t play my best because of it but he (Oupthong) was able to cover me well. There are definitely a few things I want to do better tomorrow.” –  Sudjaipraparat

“We feel grateful that we won this game because last time we lost to them. This game was important for us to get to the World Tour Finals. We like we had nothing to lose. The key was communication and working together.” – Pasaribu