CHINA MASTERS 2015 SF – Edi and Gloria out to block sweep

Edi Subaktiar and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja of Indonesia are they only players standing in the way of a sixth Chinese sweep of the titles at the China Masters.

By Don Hearn.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (archives)

It is hard to imagine a more difficult challenge for Indonesia’s Edi Subaktiar and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (pictured above) than their last Grand Prix Gold title.  At the Macau Open, they won their last two matches in extra points in the deciding game, after going right to the limit in a 30-29 game in the final.

This time, however, they have kept their scorelines less dangerous while facing down three tough Chinese pairings, starting with the Bitburger Open champions.  To top it off with another tournament victory, they will have to beat Bao Yixin and Liu Cheng, who beat the Indonesians en route to taking their first Superseries title, the 2015 India Open.  For Gloria and Edi, World Junior Champions in 2011 and 2012 respectively, taking on their predecessors, 2010 champions Liu and Bao, comes after they beat their successors, Chen Qingchen and Huang Kaixiang, in the earlier rounds.

Bao Yixin is actually on track to win two titles as she and Tang Yuanting (pictured), the All England women’s doubles champions, also made it to that final, which is one of four all-Chinese affairs scheduled for Sunday in Changzhou.

Liu Cheng, meanwhile, is the only player from last year’s Chinese sweep who has the chance to emerge with gold again.  However, in the men’s doubles, which is where his 2014 title came from, he was eliminated by Li Junhui / Liu Yuchen, who are looking for their first international title since the India Grand Prix Gold early last year.

In fact, men’s doubles will involve a repeat of the China International Challenge final.  Wang Yilu, who was a double runner-up at the China Masters last year, again teamed up with Zhang Wen (pictured) and together they stopped two dangerous Chinese Taipei pairs.  The first, Lu/Tien, had beaten Singapore Open winners Pratama/Suwardi in the first round while the second, Liao/Tseng, knocked off the top seeds.

In the men’s singles, 2010 Asian Junior Champion Huang Yuxiang beat his immediate predecessor Tian Houwei in the semi-finals and set up a final against his 2008 predecessor Wang Zhengming.  Top-seeded Wang beat Hong Kong’s Asian Games bronze medallist Wei Nan in his semi-final.

In women’s singles, 18-year-old He Bingjiao will attempt to add a Grand Prix Gold title to the Youth Olympic gold medal and the Vietnam Open Grand Prix title she won earlier in her teens.  She takes on Hui Xirui (pictured below), who is looking for her first international title, period.

Finals line-up
XD: Liu Cheng / Bao Yixin (CHN) [1] vs. Edi Subaktiar / Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (INA) [3]
WS: Hui Xirui (CHN) vs. He Bingjiao (CHN)
MS: Wang Zhengming (CHN) [1] vs. Huang Yuxiang (CHN)
WD: Bao Yixin / Tang Yuanting (CHN) [3] vs. Tang Jinhua / Zhong Qianxin (CHN)
MD: Li Junhui / Liu Yuchen (CHN) [3] vs. Wang Yilu / Zhang Wen (CHN) [4]

Click here for complete semi-final results