There is only 1 CHN team left in SF, quite surprising honestly and with Lu/Chen being the one succeeding. But not that unexpected since their top players are absent or withdrew, I guess.
It's very interesting to see Isara/Jongjit in the semifinals. I wonder how they reconciled. Hope everything is okay.
...actually I like her style. She also occasionally brings player-level inside info into the commentary which can be interesting. smautf
SEMIFINAL (01.00pm) => https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/...61B0EB-03DF-4AF5-BE6A-F5C20ABDB5A9&d=20180714 LIVE TV COVERAGE : 1) Hafiz Faizal/Gloria Emmanuelle Widjaja (INA) v Lu Kai/Chen Lu (CHN) 2) Zhang Beiwen (USA) v Nozomi Okuhara (JPN) 3) Chris Adcock/Gabrielle Adcock (ENG) v Wang Chi Lin/Lee Chia Hsin (TPE) 4) Suppanyu Avihingsanon (THA) v Tommy Sugiarto (INA) 5) Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (INA) v Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND) 6) Kanta Tsuneyama (JPN) v Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA) 7) Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai (THA) v Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN) 8) Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe (JPN) v Bodin Isara/Maneepong Jongjit (THA) Men's Singles Two Indonesian veterans pass their quarterfinal round in contrasting fashion, 2007 WC silver medalist Sony Dwi Kuncoro destroys Huang Yuxiang, the semifinalist of recent All England who displayed amateur performance yesterday, 21-9 / 21-8. Later on the evening the resurgent Tommy Sugiarto eliminates home future star Kantaphon Wangcharoen once again but Thai player extended the match longer this time, 11-21 / 21-11 / 13-21. Kanta did it but Kenta ousted, mixed fortune for Japan players against local hopeful, Khosit Phetpradab and Suppanyu Avihingsanon respetively. There's chance to create all INA affairs in this category considering their fine form recently despite Kuncoro and Sugiarto had reached their peak performances but still have desire and passion for badminton competition It's right time for all unseeded players to capitalise this anomaly condition of Super 500 tournament Women's Singles The fighter Zhang Beiwen stuns more fancied rival, Akane Yamaguchi in close battle. A third quarterfinal finish for Yamaguchi in South East Asia BWF World Tour after ended at same stage in KL and Jakarta, lost to China players there. Zhang stamina will be tested by another Japanese leading lady next, world champion Nozomi Okuhara. Pusarla V. Sindhu has smooth path so far to enter last four, the Indian ace has tricky challenger today, reigning World Junior Champion, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung who shows rapid improvement lately, forcing top-10 players like Carolina Marin and Ratchanok Intanon in MAS & INA Open. Tunjung exhibited her potential yesterday to tame established shuttler Michelle Li, 21-17 / 21-8. Men's Singles Japan Thomas Cup-bound pairs march on to final four, two of them Kamura/Sonoda and Inoue/Kaneko facing each other, first time meeting in international tournament. INA Open Super 1000 runner-up denied rubber games yesterday, they made good comeback in trailing 10-16 against Nayaka/Santoso to close the gap and sealed the tie, 21-11 / 25-23. Bodin Isara and Maneepong Jongjit who involved in brawl five years ago in CAN Open 2013 renew their partnerships as independent pair and have promising prospect here, they will take on Japan senior-junior combination Endo/Watanabe. Women's Doubles Kititharakul/Prajongjai create big upset to down top-seed and one of strong contenders Fukushima/Hirota in rubber games, thanks to Thailand excellent play that topple the Japanese ladies. A stern test awaits them next to book final ticket, the Olympic Champion and consistent Matsutomo/Takahashi An equal chance to progress into finale on bottom-half of draw for Indonesian number one Polii/Rahayu and Dubai Finals champion Tanaka/Yonemoto as they shared one winning each in two previous encounters. Mixed Doubles China latest experimenting pair Lu K/Chen L surpass expectation to vanquish two frontrunners en route to semifinal, All England Champion Watanabe/Higashino and home favourites Puavaranukroh/Taerattanachai yesterday. The Chinese will get Indonesian hotshots Faizal/Widjaja. The English married couple have hard times to conquer second INA pair in a row, Jordan/Oktavianti. The Indonesians fail to take revenge over their defeat in MAS Open couple of weeks ago. Next, The Adcocks will see Taiwanese hurdle, Wang CL/Lee CH who topped podium in NZL Open Super 300 early May.
Looks like Okuhara is going to win this match. Is it going to be a WC rematch final or is GMT able to stop that from happening.
Fine display by Nozomi, just in time for the coming WC. OTOH, ZBW didn't seem to be able to string her shots together well today.
Lee Chia Hsin still can't make up her mind which discipline to specialise in, maybe she hasn't good enough results in either WS or XD yet to help her decide.
In the XD match earlier, Chen Lu isn't as good as Widjaja at the front court and her defense not strong enough. When she improves in both aspects,I believe her partnership with Lu Kai wll progress further.
Honestly watching that match, I am quite baffled of how they could get to SF having to face Watanabe/Higashino and the Thai pair on the way.
Big questions really. 1. Why wasn't Tommy made to Indonesia TC team? 2. Why isn't Tommy made to Indonesia AG team? 3. Again, why wasn't he playing in TC? 4. Back to question no.1, 2 and 3.
