Look out for the French Open finalists
Mixed double: The French open will crown new champions
The first mixed doubles semi-final of the day saw the surprising elimination of world numbers two Yuta WATANABE and Arisa HIGASHINO (n°2, Japan) against TANG Chun Man and TSE Ying Suet (n°18), who continue excelling in this tournament. In the final, they will meet the Chinese pair JIANG Zhen Bang/WEI Ya Xin (n°6), who handled with authority their semi against the Koreans KIM Won Ho and JEONG Na Eun (n°7).
TANG/TSE: “It’s difficult to believe it because we have lost against them many times and this time, I think we were more determined. Now we just want to keep the spirit!”.
LIANG/WEI: «For the final, the Hong Kong pair has more experienced and both of them are left-handed, so we have to adapt strategy wise.”
Women’s simple: HE Bing Jiao won’t win twice in a row.
After her win over Carolina MARIN (n°5, Spain), the Japanese Aya OHORI almost made it in her semifinal against world number 4 TAI Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei). She lost in 3 sets, as did the titleholder HE Bing Jiao (n°6, China), who could not resist against her compatriot and Olympic champion CHEN Yu Fei (n°3).
TAI Tzu Ying: “I hadn't faced her for a long time. The last time was at the Asian Games, and I realized that she'd made a lot of progress. Her tactics have evolved a lot, which made it very difficult to win today.”
CHEN Yu Fei: "I'm looking forward to the final tomorrow. Facing TAI Tzu Ying, it's always a match where there's a lot to learn."
Women’s double: What a day!
Two matches and almost 3 hours of play, the semi-finals of the women's doubles draw put on a superb show this Saturday at the Glaz Arena. Underdogs KITITHARAKUL and PRAJONGJAI (n°11, Thailand) overcame two-time world champions MATSUMOTO and NAGAHARA (n°6, Japan). They were joined by the Chinese pair LIU/TAN (n°13), who defeated the Indonesian pair RAHAYU and RAMADHANTI (n°8).
Men’s double: A nightmare for China.
In the men's doubles draw, China was hoping to place two pairs in the final, but the verdict fell at the Glaz Arena: tomorrow's 4 finalists will be Danish and Indonesian. The pair Muhammad Shohibul FIKRI/Bagas MAULANA (n°12, Indonesia) won in 3 sets against the surprising HE Ji Ting and REN Xiang Yu (n°127, China). Joining them tomorrow, Kim ASTRUP and Anders Skaarup RASMUSSEN (n°6, Denmark), who defeated China's LIU Yu Chen and OU Xuan Yi (n°8).
MAULANA/FIKRI: "We're very happy and proud of our performance today. We have a lot of confidence now that we've just won two finals in France and Denmark."
Men's singles: No surprises !
In contrast to the rest of the competition, logic prevailed in the men's singles draw on Saturday. Having benefited from the withdrawal of Kunlavut VITIDSARN (n°4, Thailand), the Malaysian NG Tze Yong (no. 18) was unable to hold off world No. 5 LI Shi Feng (China). Despite a fine tournament, LOH Kean Yew (n°9, Singapore) lost to a Jonatan CHRISTIE (n°6, Indonesia) in the form of his life at the French Open. LI Shi Feng will have his work cut out tomorrow, as he has never managed to beat CHRISTIE in 3 encounters.
See you tomorrow for the finals!