Tokyo: China’s World No. 1 Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong and World No. 3 Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dong Ping have defeated their respective opponents in the semi-finals and set up an all-Chinese mixed double final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Friday.
Zheng/Huang beat Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong 21-16, 21-12 while Wang/Huang outlasted Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino of Japan 21-23, 21-15, 21-14 on Thursday.
Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet and Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino will play for the bronze medal on Friday.
This will be China’s fourth mixed doubles Olympic gold after Zhang Jun/Gao Ling won it at the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympics, and Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei won it at the 2012 London Olympics.
In women’s singles, Japan’s World No. 3 Nozomi Okuhara saw off Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-7 in the last 16 to set up a quarter-final meeting with He Bingjiao of China.
“China usually focuses on the Olympic Games more than other countries so I think I need to prepare well and think about her tactics,” said Okuhara.
Zhang Beiwen of the USA torn her Achilles tendon after winning the first game against He Bingjiao of China 21-14. She was forced to retire and was wheeled off the court when trailing by 7-9 in the second game.
Another Japanese badminton ace, World No. 5 Akane Yamaguchi also put up a brilliant performance to down World No. 18 Ki Ga-Eun of Korea 21-17, 21-18.
Okuhara and Yamaguchi became Japan’s only hope to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Games after Japan has crashed out of gold medal contention in men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.
Below are the 2020 Tokyo Olympics women’s singles matches on Friday:
Top Half:
Chen Yufei (CHN) vs. An Se-young (KOR)
Nozomi Okuhara (JPN) vs. He Bingjiao (CHN)
Bottom Half:
P. V. Sindhu (IND) vs. Akane Yamaguchi (JPN)
Ratchanok Intanon (THA) vs. Tai Tzu-Ying (TPE)
In women’s doubles, China’s Chen Qing Chen should be considered as the loudest screamer in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Chen and Jia Yi Fan played aggressively with strong smash alongside their loud noises to beat World No. 1 pair Japan’s Yuki Fukushima and her injured partner Sayaka Hirota, winning 21-18, 10-21, 21-10.
Meanwhile, Korea’s World No. 4 Kim Soyeong/Kong Heeyong won a nail-biting clash with the World No. 2 Japanese pair Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara, winning 21-14, 14-21, 28-26 in 73 minutes.
Below are the 2020 Tokyo Olympics women’s doubles semi-final matches:
Top Half:
Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu (INA) vs. Lee So-hee/Shin Seung-chan (KOR)
Bottom Half:
Kim So-Yeong/Kong Hee-Yong (KOR) vs. Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan (CHN)
