China takes women’s, mixed doubles titles in Indonesia

Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: Chinese shuttlers collected two gold medals at the 2023 Indonesia Masters in Jakarta on Sunday.

Women’s doubles pair Liu Shengshu and Zhang Shuxian beat the Japanese duo Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota 22-20, 21-19 in a match full of long rallies, which tested the nerves and stamina of both the pairs.

“This is the first time for us to compete as a pair, and surprisingly we’ve made this far. Originally, we wanted to use this tournament to learn from more senior players,” Zhang said after the final.

Zhang was formerly paired with Zheng Yu, with the duo reaching No. 4 in the world. Her current partner Liu, 18, is the reigning world junior champion in both women’s and mixed doubles categories.

In the mixed doubles, China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping beat their compatriots Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin in a tough three-game set.

“I’m very happy to win this game. When I first paired up with Huang, I was quite surprised and nervous since she has won an Olympic gold medal,” said Feng.

In the men’s singles, with world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen withdrawing from the tournament due to fatigue, Indonesia’s Asian Games badminton champion Jonatan Christie clinched his first Indonesia Masters in front of home crowd after defeating his unseeded compatriot Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo 21-15, 21-13.