Olympic silver medallists Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying are going great guns in the Blibli Indonesia Open to reach the final – just a week after going out in the Malaysia Open.
And it was yet another fantastic performance from 15th ranked Malaysians who packed off fourth seeds and world No 2 Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong in a 36-minute semi-final match at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.
In the semi-finals, Peng Soon-Liu Ying, winners of the Thailand Masters and the US Open this year, took off from where they left in the quarter-finals when they dumped world No 1 pair Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping with a 21-19, 21-14 win. The Chinese are also the reigning Asian champions.
After showing the world’s top two pairs from China the exit in the USD1, 250.000 Indonesian tournament the Malaysians are highly motivated to face defending champions and top seeds Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir in the final.
The Indonesians ranked No 3, defeated compatriots Hafiz Faizal-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja 21-18, 21-8.
Meanwhile, in the women’s singles top seed and defending champion Tai Tzu Ying will face China’s former junior world champion Chen Yufei (fifth seed) in the final.
Tzu Ying beat He Bingjiao, seeded eight, also of China, 21-13, 21-18 while Yufei ousted seventh seed Sung Ji-hyun of Korea in a three-game thriller which lasted 84 minutes to prevail 21-23, 21-18, 23-21. RIZAL ABDULLAH
