Zheng Siwei (right)/ Huang Yaqiong at the award ceremony.
On the 19th local time, the 2022 Badminton World Tour Indonesia Open ended with gold. The Chinese team won the mixed doubles and men's doubles gold medals and became the biggest winner.
The "IELTS" combination won four consecutive championships.
The "IELTS" combination has encountered twists and turns of splitting and regrouping since the Tokyo Olympics. The pairing again brought a long-lost sense of freshness and motivation to the two, and they also cherished the opportunity to continue fighting side by side. Since the reorganization, the two have won three consecutive championships in the Asian Championships, Thailand Open, and Indonesia Masters.
Zheng Siwei (right)/Huang Yaqiong in the game.
In this competition, the two swept their opponents all the way, and in the semi-finals they defeated the Tokyo Olympic champion "Yellow Duck" combination Wang Yilu / Huang Dongping . In the final, they faced one of the most important opponents of China’s Mixed Doubles, Japan’s Yudai Watanabe, Arisa Higashino. The “IELTS” combination quickly took control of the pace of the game in their own hands, winning 21:14. Taking the lead in winning the first game, although the Japanese team made some tactical changes in the second game, "Yasi" also immediately adjusted its response strategy and still had the initiative on the court. At 21:16, they scored another point to seal the victory. Won the mixed doubles crown for the fourth consecutive tournament. The two were very happy after
won the championship. Huang Yaqiong said that this victory gave them more recognition. Zheng Siwei also said in English that the victory was also due to the cooperation of the two. Indeed, after starting again, the two's tacit understanding has not diminished, and they are more motivated and passionate than before. With this championship, Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong not only achieved a career-record 20 consecutive victories, but will also surpass the Thai combination of Dechapol/Sapsiree next week and return to the world's number one spot.
Guoyu men’s doubles won gold again after two and a half years
If the mixed doubles champion is the least surprising, then the men’s doubles who won the championship after two and a half years was a surprise. After the Tokyo Olympics, retirement and reorganization, the Chinese men's doubles languished. At one time, no player could even qualify for the Open. In this competition, Liu Yuchen / Ou Xuanyi was lucky enough to get a substitute seat.
Liu Yuchen (left)/Ou Xuanyi at the award ceremony.
As the "lone seedling" in men's doubles, Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi upset the No. 2 seeds Ahsan/ Setiawan in the first round, and then defeated the Indian combination Arjun/Capra and Indonesia's Alfian /Addi Antuo and Malaysia combination Xie Dingfeng / Su Weiyi advanced to the finals of the 1000 level competition for the first time.
Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi (right) during the game.
faced the Korean combination Choi Sol Kyu/Kim Won Hao in the finals. Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi connected very quickly in the first game, catching their opponents off guard and winning the first game at 21:17. In the first half of the second game, Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi made some mistakes and were beaten 7:0 by their opponents. However, they quickly regained the initiative after adjusting in time and missed one match point. The fight reached 21 draws, and they finally won 23:21, winning their first open title since they were paired.
From the first round to the final, Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi defeated their opponents 2:0, which is enough to show the tacit understanding and strength of the pairing for half a year. After Li Junhui retired, we have reason to believe that Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi can go to Paris hand in hand. What is commendable is that it is not just their pair that has taken the lead in the national feather men's doubles. He Jiting/ Zhou Haodong, Ren Xiangyu/ Tan Qiang, Liang Weikeng/ Wang Chang, and the Chinese men's doubles are collectively catching up. , is growing rapidly.
young players are worth looking forward to in the singles
men's and women's singles. Although young players Wang Zhiyi and Zhao Junpeng both failed in the finals, their performances brought surprises. Wang Zhiyi, ranked 14th in the world, is the most important reserve talent of China's women's singles during the Paris Olympics cycle. She has also continued to improve and grow in the competition.
Wang Zhiyi returned the ball during the game.
Previously in the Uber Cup, Wang Zhiyi lost in the most critical fifth game, causing the Chinese team to miss the championship and personally suffering a heavy blow to his career. Fortunately, Wang Zhiyi did not get back down. In the Indonesia Open, she eliminated three world champions ranked among the top ten in the world - Spanish star Marin, Japanese player Akane Yamaguchi and senior sister He Bingjiao , and advanced to the final without losing a game. The
finals faced the world's second-ranked Chinese Taipei player Dai Ziying - who had just defeated Chen Yufei in the semi-finals. Although Wang Zhiyi was reversed in three hard-fought games, her performance is full of expectations.
Axelsen (right) and Zhao Junpeng at the award ceremony.
Zhao Junpeng also made a breakthrough, reaching the finals of the Super 1000 event for the first time. Due to the lack of success in men's singles in China, Zhao Junpeng, who used to belong to the second tier and is over 26 years old, has recently received a lot of opportunities in international competitions. He has also taken it one step at a time, with highlights in every game. His current world ranking has risen to 35th. .
This time, he has defeated Asian Games champion Jonatan, Hong Kong player Li Zhuoyu, and eliminated Indian player Pramino in the semi-finals. His performance has become more and more stable. It was expected that he failed to win the championship. After all, he faced the Olympic champion and the ascendant Axelsen . After the semi-finals, the Malaysian player Lee Zii Jia , ranked fifth in the world, once said that Axelsen is too strong now. He is already in the best condition and has performed at the highest level, but he still cannot defeat Axelsen. Therefore, it is not surprising that Zhao Junpeng lost 0:2.
proofreading Sheng Yuanyuan
