Tai Tzu Ying started her campaign at the KhiladiX.com Dubai 2023 Badminton Asia Championships hoping to make it memorable at the Emirates yet again.
On Saturday, the Tokyo 2020 silver medallist from Chinese Taipei mesmerised the audience at Al Nasr Club with her exceptional skill to enter the final of the Dubai edition of Asian Championships. She surprised the world no. 1 and last year’s runners up Akane Yamaguchi 12-21, 21-16, 21-15 in one of the thrilling matches of the day.
“No special feeling yet. It was a good match. Though I think Akane (Yamaguchi) wasn’t at her best. I am looking ahead to the final tomorrow. It will be a tough match,” said Tzu Ying, the 28-year-old who has won the BWF World Tour Finals twice held in Dubai in 2014 and 2016.
Tzu Ying, who has two Asian crowns in 2017 and 2018, will face promising Korean star An Se Young who battled past Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei 16-21, 11-21, 19-21.
Loh Kean vs. Ginting in final
“Absolutely happy to be in the finals. I just tried to stay focused and play offensive. But then I had to be ready with my defensive strategy to retrieve Chen Yu Fei’s smashes,” said Young, the All-England champion who had 3-8 head-to-head record against Chen before this match.
In the men’s section, crowd favourite Loh Kean Yew from Singapore has set up a clash with Indonesian second seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting who got the better off Japna’s Kanta Tsuneyama in straight games 21-13, 21-16.
Indian duo in final
Later, the Indian promising duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty entered the final after their opponent Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin retired midway in the second game 21-18, 13-14.
The Indian sixth seeds will next meet Malaysian Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi, who had overcome Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi 21-16, 26-24 in the other men’s doubles encounter which captivated the attention of the roaring crowd.
“It's unfortunate. Not the way we wanted it to end.
“Nevertheless, we won the first game; we played well compared to the last two-three matches. We were there. We were not giving them any chances,” said Rankireddy.
“Our strategy was on point. Happy to play finals tomorrow in front of huge crowd like we are playing in India.”
“It's always a close against the Malaysians. They are defenders and we are attackers. It's going to a good game,” added Shetty on their final on Saturday.
The KhiladiX.com Dubai 2023 Badminton Asia Championships, powered by Floxi and sponsored by Sobha Realty, are competed by around 300 shuttlers from 28 nations with the finals to be played on Sunday.
Exciting matches on cards
UAE Badminton Federation President Noura Aljasmi extended her best wishes to the finalists and hoped to witness amazing games on the final day.
The KhiladiX.com Dubai 2023 Badminton Asia Championships, powered by Floxi and sponsored by Sobha Realty, are competed by around 300 shuttlers from 28 nations with the finals to be played on Sunday.