In the semi-finals of the Uber Cup on May 4, the Chinese women's team and the Indonesian women's team defeated their opponents respectively and will compete for the championship in the final on the morning of the 5th. In terms of the overall strength of the two sides, the Chinese team has a clear advantage, and only needs to play normally to regain the You Cup at home.
In this competition, the Indonesian team won consecutive victories, eliminated the Thai team in three straight sets in the quarterfinals, and fought hard for five hours in the semifinals with the South Korean team that lacked the world's No. 1 An Seying, and won the decisive game in the deciding set by two points, and eliminated the defending champion with the victory of three singles players, and advanced to the final of the You Cup again after 16 years.
In the finals, the national feather will be tested in the first single and one pair positions. Chen Yufei holds a 9-3 record advantage against world No. 9 Mariska, and has won both fights this year. However, the latter was in amazing form this time, winning Akane Yamaguchi in the final round of the group stage, defeating the former world champion Intanon 2-0 in the quarterfinals, and swept the South Korean team in the semifinals. In the final, Mariska will go all out to impact Chen Yufei, and the "first sister" of the national feather is destined to usher in a tough battle.
In the first pair, the world No. 9 Rahayu/Siti also performed more consistently in this Cup. Rahayu won gold with her former partner Polly at the Tokyo Olympics, beating Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan in the final. In the new Olympic cycle, Rahayu and Siti have won just one of their seven meetings with "Mortal Dust". However, this is the first time the two pairs have met this year, and with the strength of their opponents, the Chinese pair will need to be careful to sail the boat for 10,000 years.
In the last three sets, the Chinese team had a more obvious advantage. Indonesia's second singles Valdoyo is only ranked 38th in the world, but in the first round of the knockout round, he narrowly defeated Getong, who was ranked 16th, and stubbornly reversed Jin Jialan in the semifinals. Indonesia's three-singles Devi, ranked 56th in the world, defeated world junior champion Yuka Miyazaki 2-1 in the group stage and narrowly defeated Kim Min-sun in the semi-finals under intense pressure. The resilience and resilience of the two women can be seen, and the national feather players must withstand the impact of their opponents and play at their due level.
In this campaign, the biggest advantage of the Chinese team is the two-double position. The two rival pairs, world No.27 Mayassali/Sugiarto and No.34-ranked Maurizio Sarri/Rose, haven't had much of a bright spot in their previous matches. No matter which pair the Chinese team sends, their hard power is far above their opponents.
Photo courtesy of Chengdu 2024 Tang You Cup Organizing Committee