LI-NING Hong Kong Open Badminton Championships continued at the Hong Kong Coliseum on Saturday with the MEN’S and WOMEN’S semi-finals kicking off in the morning. Malaysian pair Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan reached their second consecutive final in Hong Kong after upsetting WOMEN’S DOUBLES top seeds Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee of South Korea. They will now take on Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning of China for the gold. In the MEN’S DOUBLES, Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani, the one time training partners for home pair Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet before the Paris Olympics, prevailed in an all-Indonesia clash to reach the final where they will meet Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae of South Korea.
Now ranked eighth in the world, Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan were the losing finalist in last year’s event. The pair continued their fine form this year after finishing fourth in the Paris Olympics. In the semifinal clash, they were once six points behind the opponents in the opening game but fought back fiercely and took four points in a row to close the game 22-20 after deuce. The South Koreans levelled the overall score by putting up a 21-17 win in the second game, but lack the momentum in the rubber game when the Malaysian pair won 21-15 after a lengthy 74 minute battle.
Tan and Thinaah attributed their success to patience as they came from behind to take the first game and then the match. “We only tried to enjoy every single point until the end and therefore played with more patience on the court and that’s also why we were able to come from behind to win.”
The Malaysian pair also thanked the support from the fans. “The crowd gave us a lot of support, making us like play in the home courts. They clapped their hands after every point we won, giving us a lot of power for such an impressive performance.” Regarding the final against the Chinese pair, they hoped for the best with a gold medal but would not give themselves too much, just trying to enjoy every point during the course.
The other semifinal featured mainlanders Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning against South Koreans Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong. The Liu/Tan pair clinched a silver medal at the Paris Olympic Games and was last month’s Japan Open champions. Seeded second of the event, they had a comfortable 21-12 win in the first game and although they allowed the opponents to come from behind to take the second, they showed tremendous power in the third, from trailing 12-15 behind to come back to win 21-16 to reach the final.
The first MEN’S DOUBLES semifinal was contested by two Indonesian pairs. World number 22 Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani, who came to Hong Kong as training partners for Tang/Tse pair prior to the Paris Olympics, cruised to a 2-0 win (21-13, 21-17) over their fellow teammates Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Martin, the world number 15.
The winners were delighted to reach the final in their Hong Kong Open debut. “We are very thankful for the result because this is our first final in a Super 500 tournament. We only came here before as training partners for the Hong Kong team and the atmosphere of the tournament is fantastic, with abundant support from the fans and many of them are Indonesians. We hope to win again in the final tomorrow.”
The last hurdle will be third seeds Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae of South Korea. The Korean pair lost the opening game 21-23 after deuce to Wang Chi Lin and Chiu Hsiang Chieh of Chinese Taipei but came back to take the next two games and the match 21-15, 21-16 to earn a place in the final.
