Host China is closing in on back-to-back titles in the Men’s Division Badminton Asia Team Championships 2026 as Japan homes in on their first-ever title in the final, which will be played tomorrow at the Qingdao Conson Stadium.
In today’s semifinals, China survived Korea 3-2 while Japan powered past Indonesia 3-1.
Buoyed by the fervent support of the home fans, China had to dig deep for the comeback win when they found themselves 2-0 down to Korea at the end of the first two matches of the five-match series.
It was a keen contest from the get-go with Yoo Tae-bin coming out 21-19, 16-21, 21-13 winner over the higher-ranked Wang Zeng Xing, as Korea then doubled the advantage with Jin Yong-Kim Won-ho taking the first Men’s Doubles, when they triumphed 21-15, 21-17 in 51 minutes.
But China was not about to be denied at home when they drew level through the second Men’s Singles Hu Zhe An, who beat Choi Ji-hoon 21-13, 21-19 in under an hour as Chen Jun Ting-Liu Jun Rong then drew the series level 2-2 with a scorching 21-15, 21-14 finish over Korea’s Song Hyun-cho-Ji Dong-ju.
In the decisive third Men’s Singles, Dong Tian Yao delivered the winning point 21-6, 21-19 over Cho Hyeon-woo to hand China their second final appearance in two editions.
In the meantime, Japan came back from a match down to beat Indonesia 3-1 in the semifinals, as they look to improve on their runners-up finish in 2016.
Up-and-coming Indonesian star Moh. Zaki Ubaidullah had directed Indonesia the right way when he scalped world No. 13 Kenta Nishimoto 22-20, 21-16 in 57 minutes to give them the 1-0 lead.
But that was to be Indonesia’s only bright spark on the day when Japan turned up the grit for Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi to draw the series 1-1 in the first Men’s Doubles after beating Muhammad Rian Adrianto-Leo Rolly Carnando 21-16, 21-17
Japan took the next two points with world No. 19 Yushi Tanaka triumphant in the second Men’s Singles, and then it was Takumi Nomura-Yuichi Shimogami’s turn to shine in the second Men’s Doubles, when they made short work of Indonesia’s Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin 21-17, 21-15.
