Richie Duta Richardo (Photo Djarum Badminton)
World Junior badminton bronze medalist Richie Duta Richardo of Indonesia is just a step away from claiming a third BWF International Series title.
The 18-year-old defeated Korea’s Kim Hae-deun 21-11, 21-19 in the men’s sing;es semi-finals at the Vietnam International Challenge in Hanoi.
Richie, won the Thailand International last year and the Malaysia International a year earlier, will be up against Taiwanese Cheng Ju-Sheng in the final.
Ju-Sheng defeated teammate Tsai Cheng-Han 21-16, 21-15 in his semi-final tie.
The match between the 13th seeded Indonesian and Ju-Sheng will only be their second encounter at the international arena. It was Richie, who emerged victorious then in three games.
Another 18-year-old, Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj, is also looking to win her third BWF International Series title.
The Indian second seed, who won the Slovenia Open and India International in 2024, proved to be too strong for a much older Kisona Selvaduray of Malaysia in her women’s singles semi-final tie.
Rakshita took just 30-minutes to dispose Kisona 21-11, 21-10 and book a place in the final against Hong Kong’s Happy Lo Sin Yan. Happy was equally impressive as she defeated Wang Pei Yu of Chinese Taipei 21-7, 21-16.
In their only previous meeting at the German Open last year it was Rakshita, who emerged victorious.
The women’s doubles produced an upset with the scratch duo of Gronya Somerville-Jospehine Wu defeating eighth seeds Moe Aoki-Hina Osawa of Japan.
The Australian-Canadian duo won their semi-final tie 21-16, 19-21, 21-15 and will play another Japanese pair Miki Kanehiro-Yuna Kato for the title.
The men’s doubles semi-finals saw a marathon 82-minute battle with Indian youngsters Krishna Prasad Garaga-Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy prevailing over Cho Song-hyun-Kim Jae-hyeon of Korea 11-21, 23-21, 25-23.
They will play the Japanese duo of Kenya Mitsuhashi-Daigo Tanioka in the fina,
SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Richie Duta Richardo (Ina) bt Kim Hae-deun (Kor) 21-11, 21-19; Cheng Ju-Sheng (Tpe) bt Tsai Cheng-Han (Tpe) 21-16, 21-15
Men’s doubles: Kenya Mitsuhashi-Daigo Tanioka (Jpn) bt Huang Tsung-I-Lin Ting-Yu (Tpe) 22-20, 21-16; Krishna Prasad Garaga-Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy (Ind) bt Cho Song-hyun-Kim Jae-hyeon (Kor) 11-21, 23-21, 25-23
Women’s singles: Rakshita Sree Santhosh Ramraj (Ind) bt Kisona Selvaduray (Mas) 21-11, 21-10; Happy Lo Sin Yan (Hkg) bt Wang Pei Yu (Tpe) 21-7, 21-16
Women’s doubles: Gronya Somerville-Jospehine Wu (Aus-Can) bt Moe Aoki-Hina Osawa (Jpn) 21-16, 19-21, 21-15; Miki Kanehiro-Yuna Kato (Jpn) bt Tomona Harima-Yuho Imai (Jpn) 22-20, 21-14
Mixed doubles: Hiroki Midorikawa-Nami Matsuyama (Jpn) bt Wee Yee Hern-Clarissa San (Mas) 21-13, 21-11; Chan Yin Chak-Ng Tsz Yau (Hkg) bt Tori Aizawa-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) 19-21, 21-16, 21-15
