Beijing: Rio Olympic champion Chen Long gave the undefeated Qingdao a crucial edge in their China Badminton Super League (CBSL) semi-final tie against Zhejiang. Chen claimed a thrilling three-set 20-22, 21-11, 21-18 win over the inspired Ye Binghong in the men’s singles match to help Qingdao stayed in contention by levelling the score at 2-2.
The tie started with Qingdao breezed to a 1-0 lead after winning the women’s doubles match through Luo Ying/Luo Yu. The Luo sisters needed 49 minutes to beat Zhejiang team’s Huang Yaqiong/Ling Ziqiao 21-18, 21-15.
The second match, however saw Zhejiang’s Chen Yufei fought back from a set down to beat Qingdao’s Hui Xirui 21-19, 17-21, 21-10 in the women’s singles category to bring her team back level at 1-1.
Next up, Zhejiang’s Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong proved too strong in the mixed doubles match, beating Qingdao’s Lu Kai/Luo Ying, Zhejiang to bring Zhejiang to a vital 2-1 lead in the best-of-five rubber tie.
Qingdao then sent the semi-final tie to the wire through Chen Long’s victory in men’s singles.
Zhang Nan/Ko Sung-Hyun of Qingdao managed to conjure supreme resilience and to survive a stern test from Zheng Siwei/Wang Sijie, beating the Zhejiang men’s doubles pair 25-23, 21-11 to secure a final berth for Qingdao.
