Christmas joy as Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet reach superseries final in Dubai
The left-handed pair reach the final of the money-spinning World Superseries season-ender less than a day after Angus Ng’s men’s singles run ended in heartbreak
Left-handed mixed doubles pairing of Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet have reached the final of the US$1 million Dubai World Superseries finals to brighten the mood of the Hong Kong camp less than a day after top singles hope Angus Ng Ka-long was denied a place in the semis.
Tang and Tse needed to come back from a game down before defeating the talented Chinese pair of Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping 18-21, 21-18, 21-17 to provide the Hong Kong combination another chance of title glory after they won the Danish Open in October.
The Hong Kong camp were left in a sour mood after Ng narrowly failed to make the men’s singles last four on Friday night after Malaysian great Lee Chong Wei couldn’t muster a much-needed victory against South Korea’s Son Wan-ho. Had Lee beaten Son, Ng would have had a crack of glory in the money-spinning tournament.
That result meant Ng finished third in group A behind group winner Lee with Son beating Ng for the coveted second spot on better games difference.
While Ng suffered heartbreak, Tang and Tse brought joy back to the Hong Kong contingent, who could bring home a huge paycheque should they win on Sunday.
Tang and Tse, the world No 10-ranked pair, also earned sweet revenge having lost in straight games to the fourth-ranked Chinese pair at last month’s Hong Kong Open quarter-finals.
In a match that featured brilliant rallies and excellent judgments, 22-year-old Tang showed coolness under pressure despite losing the first game. The Hong Kong duo battled back to win the second and then won the deciding game after Huang netted a return.
The Hong Kong pair will next take on China’s Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen, who defeated Indonesia’s Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir 21-12, 21-17 in the other semi-final.
China’s Shi Yuqi and Denmark’s world champion, Viktor Axelsen, qualified for Saturday’s semi-finals after winning their final round-robin matches on Friday. Shi defeated India’s Srikanth Kidambi 21-17, 19-21, 21-14, while Axelsen edged Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-16, 14-21, 21-15. Shi topped the group ahead of Axelsen.
The draw for the semi-finals saw Lee matched against Son again and Shi challenging Axelsen.
