my country’s number one mixed doubles duo Xu Yongkai/Chen Weihan defeated the former world number one Thai pair Dechapol/Sapsiree 2-0 in the rematch, reaching the semi-finals of a high-level tour for the first time. Regarding the key performance in this game, Xu Yongkai said with a smile: “Luck is also a kind of performance.”
Singapore’s number one mixed doubles pair Koh Yong Kai/Tan Wei Han defeated former world champions Dechapol/Sapsiree of Thailand 2-0 in the rematch of the Malaysian Badminton Open on Friday (January 12), qualifying for the semi-finals and playing for the first time in their careers. Reached the semi-finals of the Super 1000 level event.
Xu Yongkai/Chen Weihan, ranked 22nd in the world, and Dechapol/Sapsiree, ranked No. 6 in the world, have met four times before. The Thai combination won the first three times, but retired due to injury in the fourth meeting. After this battle, the Chinese combination improved their record to two wins and three losses.
Xu Yongkai/Chen Weihan performed steadily when challenging the Thai combination and made few mistakes. They finally won 21-16, 21-19 and qualified for the semi-finals.
Xu Yongkai/Chen Weihan continued their good momentum in the India competition at the end of last year and reached the semi-finals in the first World Tour event of the year. They will gain at least 9,000 points. They were very happy about this.
Chen Weihan said in an interview with “Lianhe Zaobao”: “It feels a bit incredible. We will still concentrate on preparing for the next game. (Entering the semi-finals) is a great encouragement for us, but we play every game When I play, I don’t think about how many points I will get if I win this game, I just do my best.”
Xu Yongkai said that their goal before the game was to “play as far as possible.”
Regarding the key performance of this game, Xu Yongkai said: “Luck is also a kind of performance. Both sides played hard, the ball was playing slower and slower, and we couldn’t beat each other. At this time, we need a little luck.”
Chen Weihan (first from left) hugged Shaxili (second from left) after the game, while Dechapol (second from right) congratulated Xu Yongkai (first from right). (Photo by Chen Zhixin)
As they reach the semi-finals, they will gain 9,000 points, their Olympic ranking will rise further, and their world ranking is also expected to rise slightly. Xu Yongkai/Chen Weihan strive to become the second badminton mixed doubles pair in my country’s history to compete in the Olympic Games. The first mixed doubles pair was Hendry/Li Yuja, who qualified for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Xu Yongkai/Chen Weihan will compete with South Korean combination Kim Won-ho/Zheng Na-yin to qualify for the finals on Saturday (13th). The latter upset top seeds Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong (China) 2-1 in the rematch.
The Chinese combination has only played against world No. 7 Kim Won Ho/Jung Na Eun once. They lost 1-2 at the 2022 Korea Open.
Xu Yongkai/Chen Weihan are the only unseeded combination in the top four. The other semi-final will be between fifth seeds Jiang Zhenbang/Wei Yaxin (China) and second seed Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino (Japan).
Losing to the world’s No. 1 women’s singles Yang Jiamin, it’s an honor to lose
Singaporean women’s singles Yang Jiamin stopped in the quarterfinals. (Photo by Chen Zhixin)
Another Singaporean player who played that day wasYang Jiaminshe challenged world number one An Se-young (South Korea) in the women’s singles rematch and unfortunately lost 1-2, with scores of 21-16, 12-21, 19-21.
In this match that lasted 1 hour and 2 minutes, Yang Jiamin’s tenacious performance in the decisive game received a lot of applause from the audience. When she was trailing 11-19, she scored six consecutive points to narrow the gap. When An Xiying held the match point, Also resolved twice.
Yang Jiamin admitted after the game that it was a pity, “I think it is a pity to lose. Both of us encountered difficulties in the process. There were many mistakes in the downwind game. An Xiying made many mistakes in the first game. The more I played, the more confident I became, but She played very aggressively in the second and third games and scored through multiple shots.”
The world’s No. 1 An Xiying completed the reversal 2-1. (Photo by Chen Zhixin)
Yang Jiamin trained with An Xiying in South Korea at the end of last year. She also practiced with An Xiying before coming to Kuala Lumpur this week. She believes that her movement on the court and her thinking about playing have changed.
After finally finishing in the top eight, Yang Jiamin said: “I haven’t shown my best self yet. I haven’t been the best Yang Jiamin yet. I hope I can improve more and more.”
Yang Jiamin’s next competition is the India Open (Super 750), and her opponent in the first round is Taiwan’s Michelle Hsu.
2024-01-12 15:53:03
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