Copenhagen, August 26 (Xinhua) -- The 2023 Badminton World Championships ended its semi-final competition on the 26th, and the Chinese team occupied a final place in both women's doubles and mixed doubles, and Chen Yufei, the runner-up of the previous women's singles, lost to the top seed, South Korea's An Zhiying in the semifinals; The only Chinese pair to reach the men's doubles semifinals, Liang Weiheng and Wang Chang, were defeated by Denmark's Astrup/Rasmussen in two consecutive sets after winning the first set.
On August 26, Chen Yufei was in the game. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ren Pengfei
Guoyu won gold medals in women's doubles and mixed doubles at the last World Championships, and the defending champion pairs, Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan and Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong, both defeated their teammates to advance to the final on the same day. Among them, Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan of the women's doubles defeated Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu 21:14, 21:16, and Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong of mixed doubles eliminated the rookie pair Jiang Zhenbang/Wei Yaxin who participated in the World Championships for the first time 21:18 and 21:16.
Zheng Siwei (first left)/Huang Yaqiong (second from left) and Jiang Zhenbang (third from left)/Wei Yaxin shake hands after the match on August 26. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ren Pengfei
In the final, "Van Dust" will face Indonesian pair Rahayu/Sitti, who defeated South Korean pair Kim Chao-young/Kong Hee-yong in straight sets. The final opponent of the "IELTS" pair was the South Korean pair Seo Seung-jae/Choi Yoo-hyun, who also won two consecutive games to defeat the Japanese pair of Yuda Watanabe/Yusa Higashino.
The combination of "Dust" and "IELTS" have already won three World Championships, and if they succeed in this World Championship, they will both make history and become the most World Championship wins in their respective disciplines.
Chen Qingchen (first from right) / Jia Yifan (second from right) and Zhang Shuxian (third from right) / Zheng Yu high-fived after the match on August 26. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ren Pengfei
Also expected to win her fourth world title is Spain's women's singles player Marin, the Rio Olympic champion who missed Tokyo after a torn cruciate ligament and has struggled to regain her former peak form since her return. She announced her strong comeback in the semifinals with 23:21, 21:13 victory over reigning champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, and also met the in-form Ahn Shuying in the finals.
Marin previously won three World Championships in 2014, 2015 and 2018, including his first victory in Copenhagen in 2014
In the men's doubles, the Chinese pair of Liang Weihang/Wang Chang faced home Astrup/Rasmussen to win the first set 21:17. But to the cheers of tens of thousands of Danish fans on the scene, Astrup/Rasmussen burst out with amazing energy, winning the match with two consecutive sets of 21:18 and 21:19.
Leung Wai Hang (left) / Wang Chang in the game on August 26. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ren Pengfei
"At the beginning of the second game, I felt that I was playing a little softly, and it was this home atmosphere that affected me to a certain extent." Leung Wai Hang admitted frankly after the game.
In the final, Astrup/Rasmussen will face the South Korean pair Kang Min-hyuk/Seo Seung-jae, who eliminated the Malaysian pair Hsieh Dingfeng/So Weiyi 23:21, 21:13 in the semifinals. This also means that South Korea's Seung-jae will participate in the mixed doubles and men's doubles finals on the 27th.
In the men's singles, no Chinese players reached the semifinals. In the semifinals, Thailand's Kunravut defeated India's Planoy, who had eliminated Anselon, the previous day, 18:21, 21:13, 21:14 after losing a set to reach the final of the World Championships for the second year in a row. His opponent in the final will be Japan's Kodai Naraoka. Koda Naraoka, who played as the No. 4 seed, defeated Denmark's Antonsen 25-23, 21-12 in the semifinals.