Semifinal day at DAIHATSU Indonesia Masters 2020 has come to an end, bringing promising results for Europe.
Despite the fact that most European stars fell through the cracks throughout the tournament, Europe will be represented in three of the five finals tomorrow, the men’s and women’s singles and the women’s doubles.
Exactly a year ago, at the same tournament, the Spanish superstar Carolina Marin suffered an injury that stopped her from competing and put her through a tough recovery process. It was only after ten minutes of play, in the final against India’s Saina Nehwal, when Marin had to retire from the game because of excruciating pain.
However, this didn’t stop her from following her dreams, it only made her stronger as only eight months later she was back on court stronger than ever and ready to get back on track. The first tournament she took part in after the injury was Vietnam Open 2019, which seemed to be quite difficult for her since she lost in the opening round, but exactly one week later she stands on the podium in Changzhou, at the VICTOR China Open International. After that, a series of victories followed, including the Syed Modi International and Italian International.
This week Marin’s been playing in Indonesia again. Today she defeated China’s He Bing Jiao, in straight games 21-11, 21-19, after playing for fifty minutes. Tomorrow, she’s facing Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon. The last time the two played against each other was a few months ago, at the French Open where Marin won in three games.
On her Instagram page, Marin wrote: “One year later, as if nothing had happened. Thanks for all your love and support! Just one more step!”. This makes us believe that the badminton queen is determined to claim her rightfully earned gold tomorrow.
Thrilled about tomorrow’s final against Anthony Ginting
Another match to look forward to tomorrow is the men’s singles final. Denmark’s Anders Antonsen will be facing home favourite Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. Ginting won over Viktor Axelsen (DEN) in two games, 22-20, 21-11, to secure a spot in the final. Antonsen, defetead Hong Kong China’s Lee Chuck Yiu, in straight games: 21-9, 21-14.
“Extremely happy to have reached my third consecutive final here in Indonesia. Thrilled about tomorrow’s final against Anthony Ginting.”- shared Antonsen on his social media accounts.
The two players played against each other a short while ago, in the semifinal of VICTOR China Open 2019. Antonsen lost to the Indonesian in three games: 18-21, 21-5, 21-14, after playing for 67 minutes.
Hope for gold for Europe in the women’s doubles
The women’s doubles final will display a match between the home favourites Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu and the Danish Maiken Fruergaard/Sara Thygesen, who’ve been on a lucky streak this week. In the semifinal the Danish pair beat their number four seeded opponents, Olympic champions Matsutomo/Takahashi (JPN), in two close games: 22-20, 22-20.
To secure a spot in the final, the Indonesian pair, Polii/Rahayu, had to defeat the number five seeded, Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong from Korea. Indonesia won comfortably, 21-19, 21-15. The two finalists have faced each other on court a few times, however, Thygesen/Fruergaard never managed to defeat the Indonesians.
The men’s doubles and mixed doubles finals don’t have any European representation this year, but we definitely know which country gets to take home the gold.
The men’s doubles final will be played by the number one and two seeded Indonesian pairs, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Hendra Setiawan.
In the mixed doubles, yet again, two of the strongest Chinese pairs will be facing each other. Number one seeded Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong will play against number two seeded Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dong Ping. The two pairs have met on court several times, including at the PERODUA Malaysia Masters 2020 last week, where the number two seeds lost 21-19, 21-12.