China Masters: Young Chinese Make a Mark
World No.31 pair Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi struck big on home turf, reaching their first Super 750 semifinal at the LI-NING China Masters 2023.
· DEV SUKUMAR
The Chinese duo, relative unknowns as they started playing the HSBC BWF World Tour only this year, edged out No.16 pair Pramudya Kusumawardana/Yeremia Rambitan 21-19 21-19 to set up an all-Chinese semifinal against Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang. Chen/Liu’s previous biggest achievement on the World Tour was a title win at the Orleans Masters (Super 300) in April.
The other semifinal will see Kumamoto Masters Japan champions He Ji Ting/Ren Xiang Yu take on Asian Games winners Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty.
“After the Asian Games we haven’t played up to the mark, there were a few disappointments,” said Rankireddy.