At 17:00 pm Beijing time on May 20, the semifinals of the 2023 Sudirman Cup World Badminton Mixed Team Championship were held at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Center, with the host China team facing Japan. In the first mixed doubles, China's Feng Yanzhe / Huang Dongping lost 1-2 to the Japanese pair; In the second single man's match, Shi Yuqi of the Chinese team defeated Naraoka Kōda 2-1; In the third women's singles, China's Chen Yufei lost 0-2 to Akane Yamaguchi; In the fourth men's doubles, China's Liu Yuchen/Ou Weiyi defeated the Japanese pair 2-1; In the fifth women's doubles, Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan easily won 2-0. In the end, Kuniwa made a thrilling comeback from behind, knocking out Japan 3-2 to advance to the final, where he would compete with South Korea for the Sudirman Cup.
In the group stage, China swept Egypt, Singapore and Denmark 5-0 in three times to advance to the quarterfinals with the top spot in the group. In the quarterfinals, China defeated Indonesia 3-0 to advance to the semifinals. In the semi-finals played in the morning, South Korea beat Malaysia 3-1 to advance to the final.
In the first mixed doubles match, China played Feng Yanzhe / Huang Dongping, their world ranking No. 7, and the two played in the first group stage match against Egypt. The Japanese team is played by Kyohei Yamashita / Nanru Shinoya, ranked 19th in the world. The two groups have met twice, and the Chinese combination has won all of them.
In the first game, the Chinese team served first and led 3-0 in the opening game. However, Japan scored three consecutive points to equalize the score. Next, Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping also scored three consecutive points to pull the score apart. Then Kyohei Yamashita / Nanaru Shinoya tenaciously equalized and put the score back to 9-7, and the Chinese pair faced a challenge. Heading into the technical break, Japan led 11-8. After the break, Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping struggled to overtake the scoreline, and the Japanese combination chased 18 draws. Next, the two teams fought from 19 to 24, and the points were exchanged several times, and finally Kyohei Yamashita / Nanaru Shinoya won the first set 26-24.
The score was glued at the beginning of the second game, and it never opened up, and Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping led 11-8 into the technical break. After the break, Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dong scored consecutive points, and the Japanese combination fell into passivity. In the end, Feng Yanzhe / Huang Dongping won the second set 21-18, and the two sides drew 1-1 on aggregate. Entering the tiebreaker, the start remained deadlocked, and the two sides remained evenly divided. Entering the technical interval, China led 11-6. After the break, Japan fought back frantically, and China withstood the pressure to hold the lead 14-10 after a 61-beat confrontation. After Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping won the match point 20-18, the Japanese pair saved consecutive points and tenaciously chased to 20 draws. In the suffocating final moments, Kyohei Yamashita / Naru Shinoya won 24-22 against Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping, and China trailed Japan 1-0.
In the second men's singles match, China played Shi Yuqi, currently ranked tenth in the world. In this Sudirman Cup, Shi Yuqi has made three appearances, and he defeated Indonesia's Jinting in the quarterfinal. Japan is played by Kodai Naraoka, who is ranked fourth in the world. In the first game, Naraoka Kō served and went down the net, and Shi Yuqi scored first. Due to the close strength of the two sides, the opening stage of the score could not be pulled apart, and entering the technical interval, Naraoka Kodai led 11-9. After the break, Shi Yuqi scored only 4 points, and Naraoka Kodai won the first set 21-13.
In the second game, Naraoka Kōdai continued to lead, and Shi Yuqi quickly equalized and overtook the scoreline, and when it entered the technical interval, Shi Yuqi led 11-5. Due to excessive physical exertion in the first game, Naraoka Kōdai did not perform well in the second game, and Shi Yuqi won the second game 21-15, and the two tied 1-1. In the tiebreaker, the two had a 43-beat tie as soon as the two started, and Shi Yuqi led 7-3 in the opening game. Shi Yu then broke through and entered the technical interval 11-4. After the break, Shi Yuqi continued to score, and it didn't help that Naraoka Kōda saved 4 field points. In the end, Shi Yuqi won the tiebreaker 21-17 and defeated Naraoka Kōdai 2-1, and the Chinese team won 1-1 on aggregate.
In the third women's singles match, China played world number four Chen Yufei, who has already won the Sudirman Cup twice in 2019 and 2021. The Japanese team sent Akane Yamaguchi, who ranked first in the world. In the record of the meeting between the two, Akane Yamaguchi has a 17-10 advantage over Chen Yufei.
In the first game, the two sides were unable to divide the game in the opening period, and it was tied 6-6, and Akane Yamaguchi led 11-9 when entering the gap. After the break, Chen Yufei's mistakes increased, which also led to Akane Yamaguchi winning the first set 21-14. In the second game, Chen Yufei still made a mistake in the opening game and was pulled to 7-2 by Akane Yamaguchi. Then Chen Yufei tenaciously chased the score and chased it to 7-8. Entering the technical break, Chen Yufei trailed by two points 9-11. But after the break, Akane Yamaguchi took the initiative, winning the second set 21-15, beating Chen Yufei 2-0, and China trailed Japan 1-2.
In the fourth men's doubles match, the Chinese team played Liu Yuchen/Ou Weiyi, and their world ranking is No. 5. The Japanese team sent Hoki Takuro / Kobayashi Yugo (small nanny combination). The two pairs only met once, and Liu Yuchen/Ou Weiyi lost to their opponents. In the first game, the Chinese combination started with a 2-0 lead, but the small nanny combination scored five consecutive points. Entering the technical interval, the Japanese combination is temporarily ahead. After the break, the babysitters held the lead, and the Chinese pair clung to their opponents and chased 17 draws. However, the Japanese team eventually won the first set 21-17.
In the second game, the opening period of the score was tight, Liu Yuchen/Ou Weiyi entered the technical break 11-10. After the break, Liu Yuchen/Ou Weiyi maintained the lead until the little nanny duo chased 16 draws. At the last moment, Liu Yuchen/Ou Weiyi withstood the pressure and won the game 21-19, a 1-1 draw, and then the fans sang the national anthem in unison! In the tiebreaker, the two pairs went from 1-1 to 6-6, and then the Japanese pair went into a technical break 11-8. After the break, the babysitters took the lead 20-16 and scored one more point to advance to the final. And Liu Yuchen/Ou Weiyi saved four match points in a row and overtook the score 21-20, and with the next goal, the Chinese team smashed and scored a 2-1 reversal against the Japanese combination, and the total score came to 2-2!
The tiebreaker is the women's doubles, with China playing world number one fanchen duo Chen Qingchen / Jia Yifan, and their opponents are world number seven Yuki Fukushima/Saika Hirota. In the first game, the Fanchen combination started very smoothly, taking an 8-1 lead. On the technical gap, China led 11-4. After the break, the Mortal Dust combination turned the advantage into a victory, winning the first set 21-11. In the second game, the Mortal Dust Group still started very smoothly, leading 5-0. Between technical breaks, the Chinese team's advantage reached 11-3. After the break, the Fan Dust combination only allowed their opponent to score 4 points, winning the game 21-7 and winning 2-0. In this way, the Chinese team defeated Japan with a thrilling score of 3-2 and advanced to the final.