The semi-finals of the Thailand Badminton Masters began this afternoon, with China's Ren Xiangyu, He Jiting and Li Yijing and Luo Xumin reaching the men's and women's doubles finals respectively.
The Thailand Badminton Masters is a BWF Super 300 event, and due to its low level, the Chinese team did not send a main lineup to play. After the first four days of competition, only one pair of players from the Chinese team reached the semifinals in men's doubles and women's doubles.
In the Men's Doubles semi-finals, No. 5 seeds Ren Xiangyu and He Jiting played well, sweeping Indonesia's Fikri Maulana 2-0 (21-6) to advance to the final. Fikri Maulana is the No. 2 seed in the tournament and has previously beaten Ren Xiangyu and He Jiting at the French Open. The Indonesian pair were in poor form today, being completely overpowered by the Chinese and coming back home with just 28 minutes of resistance. In the final, Ren Xiangyu and He Jiting will face Thailand's Perachhai Pak Kapo.
In the Women's Doubles semi-finals, the national pair of Li Yijing and Luo Xu Min took on the No. 8 seed Lee Yourim and Shin Seung-chan of South Korea. The South Korean pair knocked out another national pair, Lee Wen Mei and Yoo Hyun Hyun, yesterday. In today's game, Li Yijing and Luo Xu Min had a clear advantage, leading all the way in the first game and winning 21-15. In the second game, Li Yijing and Luo Xumin made a perfect start of 8-1 and won the match point 20-14, and the Korean pair still lost 18-21 although they chased four points in a row. In the final, Li Yijing and Luo Xu Min will face the No. 2 seed Kusuma Amalia of Thailand. (Xinmin Evening News reporter Wang Zhiling).