A Host of Opportunities – Day 4: Fuzhou China Open 2018
China put themselves in line for possibly four titles as the Fuzhou China Open 2018 semi-finals were settled today.
· GAYLE ALLEYNE
Host players advanced to the last four in all categories, except for Women’s Doubles, and already have a lock on a place in the Mixed Doubles championship match, given tomorrow’s all-China clash between top seeds Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong and He Jiting/Du Yue. It could very well be an all-China finale with No.2 seeds Wang Yilyu/Huang Dongping across the net from All England winners, Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino of Japan, in the other mixed semi-final.
The latter held off a stiff challenge from Korea’s Kim Won Ho/Baek Ha Ha Na, saving three game points in the second game before wresting the honours, 21-19 26-24, on their fourth match point. Wang/Huang overcame Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan/ Melati Daeva Oktavianti (18-21 21-16 21-14) while their team-mates He/Du torpedoed another Indonesian pair, Rio 2016 champions Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir (21-18 21-19). Meanwhile the sizzling partnership of Zheng/Huang calmly dispatched Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai, despite dropping the second game: 21-10 19-21 21-11 in an hour.
There is also the prospect of an all-China showdown in Men’s Doubles on Sunday as first He Jiting/Tan Qiang progressed to the semi-finals, followed by senior peers Liu Cheng/Zhang Nan. He/Tan will face evergreen Indonesians, Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan, while another China-Indonesia battle pits Liu/Zhang versus top guns Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo. He/Tan survived a torrid tussle in the decider to oust their towering countrymen, Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen (21-15 14-21 21-19). Ahsan and Setiawan – bidding to qualify for next month’s HSBC BWF World Tour Finals – rolled back the years with another brilliant performance to stop India’s young dynamos, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, 21-11 16-21 21-12, in 42 minutes.