Badminton News: The Asian Games will bring together the Indian men’s pair and the Japanese mixed pair in the gold medal match for the first time thanks to the efforts of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty and Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino.
Since the addition of mixed doubles in 1966, four years after badminton’s competitive debut at the Asian Games, Japan’s only bronze medal was won by Ippei Kojima/Etsuko Takenaka in Bangkok in 1970.
Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino were determined to improve it, beating Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping again after losing the first game 21-11 in just 19 minutes.
The reward for the world number 2 pair who won the second and third games 22-20 and 21-17 was a final against another Chinese pair, local favorite Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong.
“We want to make history. I want us to do our best and enjoy the final,” said Watanabe, who lost in the quarterfinals to Dong Ping and Wang Yi Lyu five years ago.
Meanwhile, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty appeared surprisingly dominant in their duel against 2022 world champions Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik.
The reigning Asian champions accomplished the task in 46 minutes, winning 21-17 21-12. The catalyst was an eight-point haul in the first game, which saw them trail 10-9 to lead 17-10.
The second match was one-sided, with India taking an 11-3 lead to extinguish their Malaysian opponents’ hopes of saving the match.
“From the start, we stuck to our game plan. Once we take the lead, we will never let them come back,” Shetty said.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty face surprise package Hangzhou 2022 Koreans Choi Sol Gyu/Kim Won Ho, who beat Olympic champions Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin 21-12, 21-10.
India’s best result in men’s doubles was also the only bronze won by Leroy D’Sa/Pradeep Gandhe in New Delhi in 1982.
Meanwhile, China won men’s singles gold at the 2023 Asian Games after Li Shi Feng and Shi Yu Qi both won in the semi-finals.
Li was first to advance, beating a tired HS Prannoy 21-16 21-9 before Shi joined the party after a 21-5, 21-15 result against Kodai Naraoka.
In women’s singles, the unstoppable An Se Young became the first Korean since Bang Soo Hyun in 1994 to qualify for the final.
The world number 1 beat He Bing Jiao 21-10, 21-13 and will face Chen Yu Fei for gold at Binjiang Gymnasium on Saturday (8/10).
Article Tag: Yuta Watanabe, Arisa Higashino, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, Asian Games 2023
