In doubles, on a basic level, the partner has to be reliable and then have something special on top of that to go further.
By Aaron Wong, Badzine correspondent live in Sydney. Photos: Badminton Oceania
Liu Yu Chen/Ou Xuan Yi bt Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin 22-20, 25-23
Ong Yew Sin / Teo Ee Yi vs. Kang Min Hyuk / Seo Seung Jae 23-21, 21-12
In the first meeting between three-quarters of the men’s finalists at the Tokyo Olympics since that day, the reigning gold medalists found themselves thwarted by technology.
A shoe malfunction as Wang Chi-Lin led 17-13 in the second game stopped the momentum shifting his way. It was a shoe model that used a dial and wires to tighten instead of laces.
It was fun for the spectators and there were quite a few minutes in the process of explaining it to the ref, who in turn needed the ref to understand the delay, and only then did the teammates approve to find replacement shoes. That’s an eternity in badminton time.
What caused the most fun was that Wang ultimately chose to play in one “new” shoe and one “old” shoe.
Luck is what Liu/Ou had when his last slow shot hit the net tape and he dribbled. There was absolutely nothing Wang could do despite protecting that place.
The different nationalities in the crowd make their voices heard in different years, and the local Malaysian Malaysian and Chinese Malaysian fans were the loudest crowd on the day of the quarterfinals, which certainly made it feel almost like playing in house for the number 8 in the world, Ong/Teo, who are acting. exceptionally well as independent players.
Kang/Seo were unable to produce anything more than the sum of their parts, which explains why the scores were close initially, but then a significant gap appeared.
Lee Chia Hsin/Teng Chun Hsun defeated Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara 22-20, 21-18
Zhang Shu Xian/Zheng Yu defeated Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota 14/21, 22-20, 21-16
On the women’s side, the second and third seeded Japanese were sacked.
The experience, skill and calm displayed by Chinese Taipei’s Lee Chia Hsin helped his team overcome the two former world champions Matsumoto/Nagahara.
Lee, who has been a triple threat at this level of the sport, brought to the table all of the outstanding qualities of each discipline that he has even though his mixed frontcourt prowess depended quite obviously.
His partner, Teng Chun Hsun, was also reliant on producing inconspicuous but solid support.
Once again in this tournament, this Japanese pairing failed to provide a creative advantage that is normally instigated by Matsumoto. All of his high-quality automatic punch responses weren’t enough to deter his unannounced opponents who had assessed exactly that.
The sixth seed, Zheng Yu, is the player with the special advantage in her combination. Her trademark steep pitches, as well as her more powerful punches than others, didn’t show up until after the first game, which is one of the main reasons she took 84 minutes to finish the match.
Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja/Dejan Ferdinansyah defeated Misaki Matsutomo/Yuki Kaneko 20-22, 21-19, 21-17
Dejan, 22, was the most grateful player of the day at the time of winning their mixed match.
The Japanese offered up a lot of smart play, which is necessary because they don’t need to make up for the fact that none of them possess the God-given gifts of added height or crushing power. One aspect that they do not yet dominate in their combination is that they impose the tactical overview on their side.
On the contrary, the tall Widjaja was decisive and capable of finishing points whenever she saw her intercept opportunities in the frontcourt.
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