Mixed doubles duo Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet advance to quarter-finals of Indonesia Masters
- Badminton’s world tour returns to Asia after a 10-month absence because of the Covid-19 pandemic
- Angus Ng makes it to the quarter-finals of the men’s singles and will take on old rival Chou Tien-chen, of Taiwan
iHong Kong’s Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet reached the mixed doubles quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters after a hard-fought victory over their Malaysian opponents in Bali on Thursday.
After sharing the opening two games, the Tokyo Olympic semi-finalists needed to hold their nerve to overcome Malaysia’s Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Lai after deuce in the third game to win 15-21, 21-7, 22-20 after almost an hour.
“Tse needs more time to get into the game these days because she is not young any more and that’s why they lost the opening game,” said Hong Kong badminton head coach Tim He Yiming. “But once she settled in and with her massive experience, they could go all the way to victory. Even though the third game was a bit close, it was still under their control.”
The eighth seeds will now meet Supak Jomokoh and Supissara Paewsampran, of Thailand, for a place in the last four and should hold the upper hand against the unseeded pair whom they have never played before.
The Bali tournament marks the first time the world tour returns to Asia in more than 10 months because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The super 750 tournament, which carries US$750,000 in total prize money, is a major stepping stone to qualify for the world tour finals, also in Bali, later this month. The Hong Kong pair are 16th in the standings and still have a chance if they are able to go deep into next week’s Indonesia Open, which offers a total purse of US$1 million.