Dubai: The resilience of Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi shown in the 2023 Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) semi-final was astonishing as both were diving left and right trying to save the drop shots and smashes by World No. 4 Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi of Japan.
Highlights of Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi vs. Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi in the 2023 Badminton Asia Championships Semi-finals:
After winning the first game 21-16, the World No. 8 Ong/Teo fought back from 14-18 in the second game, serving up a semi-final masterclass to blitz Hoki/Kobayashi 26-24 to successfully advance to the final.
Ong/Teo will play World No. 6 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty of India in the final. Rankireddy/Shetty won the first game against Tokyo Olympics champion Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin of Taiwan 21-18, but Wang suffered a leg injury when they were leading 14-13 in the second game. Although Wang tried to continue the game after medical treatment, the injury seemed too painful for him and the Taiwanese pair decided to retire.
In men’s singles, it was another impressive display of athleticism, skill, and will, with Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew managing to play his best to beat China’s World No. 14 Lu Guangzu 21-19, 21-15. The World No. 7 Singaporean will meet World No. 2 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia in the final after the Indonesian saw off World No. 15 Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan 21-13, 21-16 in another semi-final.
Highlights of Loh Kean Yew vs. Lu Guangzu in 2023 Badminton Asia Championships Semi-finals:
Taiwan’s former World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying is on course to win her third BAC title as she saw off World No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 21-12, 16-21, 21-15 on Saturday. The current World No. 4 Taiwanese will meet World No. 2 An Se Young of Korea in the final. An put on a spirited fight to down the Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Chen Yu Fei of China 16-21, 21-11, 21-19.
Meanwhile, in the women’s doubles final, Japan’s Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota will compete with Baek Ha Na/Lee So Hee of Korea for the BAC trophy, while China already guaranteed a BAC mixed doubles gold medal when Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong set up an all-Chinese final with compatriots Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin in the final.
