WORLDS 2013 SF – 2nd in view for Hendra; Cai/Fu denied a 5th

Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng were again denied a title on home court by Hendra Setiawan as he and Mohammad Ahsan booked their spot in the final of the Wang Lao Ji BWF World Badminton Championships.

By Don Hearn, Badzine Correspondent live in Guangzhou.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan are in the final of the Wang Lao Ji BWF World Badminton Championships after a convincing win over four-time champions Cai Yun / Fu Haifeng.  It is the first men’s doubles finals appearance for Indonesia since Setiawan and Markis Kido won the title in 2007.

In fact, the last time Setiawan was here in Guangzhou was to win the Asian Games gold medal at this very venue, the Tianhe Gymnasium.  However, on that occasion, he did not have to contend with an opponent buoyed by home crowd support and in that way, it might have been a little more like the Olympic final in Beijing, in which Setiawan also prevailed over Cai/Fu.

This time, though, the Indonesian veteran had a new partner, Mohammad Ahsan and he admits to their being some added motivation as Ahsan has yet to win a major title like his partner has.

“They had the pressure today because they were on their home court,” said Hendra Setiawan after the match.  “For us, we were free to just try and play our best.”

They also faced a very different Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng from the pair that was opposite Hendra and Markis in Beijing.  The Chinese aces have now won an Olympic gold, as well as three more World Championships, plus they have been plagued with injuries since London last summer.

“Maybe Cai/Fu didn’t quite have the power they normally have but they are still good.”

In terms of an opponent for the final, Hendra refused to state any preference between Boe/Mogensen and Kim/Kim.  The Indonesians won their only encounter with the Danes, last autumn, and lost to Kim/Kim at the Korea Open in January, the only time those two pairs have faced one another.

Click here for complete semi-final results