Bangkok, May 16 (IANS) The Chinese badminton team secured berths in three finals at the Thailand Open 2026 on Saturday, with Chen Yufei, Bao Lijing/Cao Zihan, and Zhu Yijun/Li Qian advancing to the women’s singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles finals, respectively.
In the women’s doubles semifinals, Chinese pair Bao Lijing and Cao Zihan defeated Chinese Taipei’s Hu Ling-fang and Jheng Yu-chieh, 21-18, 21-17, in just 40 minutes. The young pair will face the Japanese pair Rin Iwanaga/Kie Nakanishi in the title decider.
Defending champion Chen Yufei sealed a straight-games win over Japan’s Hina Akechi to advance to the women’s singles final and will compete for the championship against her long-time rival, Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.
China’s mixed doubles shuttlers Cheng Xing and Zhang Chi suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat against Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje after an 84-minute gruelling battle. Meanwhile, fellow Chinese pair Zhu Yijun and Li Qian held their nerve to beat Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran 2-1, setting up a final clash against the Danish combination.
In the men’s singles, Chinese shuttler Shi Yuqi withdrew before the semifinal, handing a walkover victory to Denmark’s Anders Antonsen. The final will see Antonsen take on Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
The men’s doubles saw Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin of Indonesia defeat China’s He Jiting and Ren Xiangyu 21-15, 21-18. In the final, they will play India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
The Indian doubles pair reached its first final of the 2026 season after defeating Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin in a thrilling semifinal. The world No. 4 Indian duo, seeded first in the tournament, won a gripping match 19-21, 22-20, 21-16. The contest lasted one hour and 22 minutes, extending their head-to-head record against the Malaysians to 8-2.
–IANS
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