Hoo Pang Ron and Lai Pei Jing
Malaysia will have four doubles pairs in the finals of the French Open badminton championships in Paris, with the men’s doubles crown assured.
Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun and Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin both defeated Indonesian pairs to make it an all-Malaysian affair in the men’s doubles while Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing stormed into the mixed doubles finals.
Top Malaysian women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan are also through to their back-to-back final, afted also having won the Denmark Open last week.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun gunned down Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin 21-16, 21-15 in their semi-final tie before Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin overcame a tough first game before romping past Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin 22-20, 21-9.
Pang Ron-Pei Jing continued their fairy tale run to gunn down Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui of China 21-13, 21-19 and will face top seeds Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping in the final.
Pearly-Thinaah overcame a resurgent Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi of Japan 21-17, 22-20 in their last four match and will play another Japanese pair, Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto, for the title.
Meanwhile, Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah kept the French crowd waiting for a home celebration, beating Alex Lanier in a gripping semifinal to reach his first Super 750 final.
Winning 21-16 16-21 21-17 against the world champion on home soil, Ubaidillah showed composure well beyond his 19 years. He was quick to the net, sharp and, above all, smooth and calm throughout.
“I’m very grateful to win. It was a very good match with Alex,” Ubaidillah told BWF. “I just tried to get into a good position and stay active.”
That positioning proved crucial.
“My key was to attack more and play at the front of the net,” he explained. “From that area, I could get into a more attacking position.”
The breakthrough marks a major moment for 19-year-old, who said he could now enjoy the achievement while learning from it, after his Asian Games success.
“It’s a good moment for me,” he said. “Now I can enjoy it more after the Asian Games and learn more for the next tournament.”
There was pride, but no premature celebration. With the final still to come, his attention was already turning to the next challenge. “I’m very proud, of course, but I don’t want to celebrate early,” he said. “I still have another match and I want to win the title.”
Joining him in the final is another Frenchman, Christo Popov, who made his second home tournament back-to-back after showing Hu Zhe An the door 21-14 21-10. This will be their second meeting with Popov taking the first encounter.
Mixed doubles top seeds Yan Zhe-Dongping are through to a third consecutive final after gaining revenge on Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue in a gripping semifinal.
Just two months after falling to the French pair in the World Championships final, Yan Zhe-Dongping turned the tables on home soil, overcoming the reigning world champions 19-21 21-17 21-19 in front of a packed Arena Grand Paris crowd.
“The games were really close to each other,” said Yanzhe post match. “We encouraged each other, communicated and always focused on the match. The atmosphere was perfect,” he added. “The fans supported both sides and we also had Chinese supporters cheering for us. All players enjoy this kind of environment.”
The result not only avenged their defeat in August’s World Championships final but also kept alive their bid for a third consecutive title. Despite the pair’s good form, Huang insisted there would be no sense of entitlement heading into the final.
“Both sides start from the same place,” she said. “We just have to be ourselves while pursuing the win.”
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Moh. Zaki Ubaidillah (Ina) bt Alex Lanier (Fra) 21-16, 16-21, 21-17; Christo Popov (Fra) bt Hu Zhean (Chn) 21-14, 21-10
Men’s doubles: Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (Mas) bt Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin (Ina) 21-16, 21-15; Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin (Mas) bt Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin (Ina) 22-20, 21-9
Women’s singles: An Se-young (Kor) bt Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) 21-12, 21-19; P.V. Sindhu (Ind) bt Hina Akechi (Jpn) 21-10, 20-22, 21-16
Women’s doubles: Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan (Mas) bt Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) 21-17, 22-20; Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) bt Rachel Allessya Rose-Febi Setianingrum (Ina) 1-18, 21-15
Mixed doubles: Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing (Mas) bt Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui (Chn) 21-13, 21-19; Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) 19-21, 21-17, 21-19
