China and Japan both advanced to four of the five finals at the 2019 Asian Badminton Championships here on April 27, setting up three battles between the two arch rivals.
In the men's singles semifinal, Shi Yuqi of China beat Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 22-20, 21-18, and will compete against top seed Kento Momota of Japan for the men's singles title on Sunday.
"Shi is a strong rival. I will watch out for his low shuttles and try to secure my back court tomorrow," said Momota, who crushed Tien Minh Nguyen of Vietnam 21-18, 21-8 in the other semifinal.
After beating compatriot Cai Yanyan 8-21, 21-12, 21-17 in the women's singles semifinal, He Bingjiao will have a final showdown with Japanese star Akane Yamaguchi. The third-seeded Yamaguchi downed the top seed Chen Yufei of China in a hard-fought battle 15-21, 21-16, 21-17.
"It was a tough match against Chen Yufei. I did well in defending, and grasped the right timing for attacks," Yamaguchi said. "As for the final, I will enjoy the process and hope for a victory."
Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan of China made it to the women's doubles final with a straight-set win over the world champion Della Destiara Haris/Rizki Amelia Pradipta of Indonesia 22-20, 21-12. The Chinese pair will meet Japanese opponents Mayu Matsumoto/WakanaNagahara on Sunday.
In the men's doubles final, Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe of Japan will fight Indonesian shuttlers Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, while the mixed doubles final will be between two Chinese pairs, Wang Yilyu/Huang Dongping and He Jiting/Du Yue.
