Agency :
Tokyo Olympic badminton champion Huang Dongping secured semifinal spots in both the mixed and women’s doubles here on Friday at the BWF Denmark Open.
Huang and her Olympic title-winning partner Wang Yilyu outplayed Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet from Hong Kong, China 21-14, 21-17 to reach the mixed doubles semifinals.
“The game is actually not as easy as what we’ve seen from the results. We had played many times before, including the Tokyo Olympics,” said Wang. “Now we are in the semis and we will play the best of ourselves for the fans.”
Paired with Zheng Yu, Huang stunned Tokyo Olympic women’s doubles gold medalists, the fourth-seeded Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu from Indonesia 14-21, 21-10, 21-13.
“I had not played women’s doubles for a long while until the Uber Cup. It’s really a surprise for us!” said Huang. “It looks like I’m energetic on the pitch, but actually I couldn’t stay focus for some moments and was a bit going down.”
Huang also expressed gratitude to her temporary partner Zheng. “It’s not a success for me only, but also for my partner. She covers the middle and back court with much more moves.”
“Our opponents made good start today and we are not playing confidently in the beginning,” said Zheng. “Then we stopped thinking about the results and the games are turning to our side.”
He Bingjiao struck compatriot Wang Zhiyi 21-16, 21-14 to set up a semifinal encounter with the second seed Akane Yamaguchi from Japan in the women’s doubles.
“Wang and I know each other so well and we are under no pressure. The match is like an internal training for us,” said the sixth-seeded He. “To reach the last four is a very satisfying and inspiring result for me at Denmark Open. I’ll give my all to the next game.”
Having played the Uber Cup as a newcomer before coming to the Denmark Open, Wang is hoping to improve as quickly as possible to be accepted as a key shuttler in the Chinese team.
“I was encouraged and motivated a lot in the top-class team events and I did not play many high ranking tournaments before,” said the 21-year-old Wang. “The tour comes to an end now and it’s really precious experience.”
