Liang/Wang advance to Australian Open MD semi

At the Australian Open badminton quarterfinals, Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang and Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping cruised past their opponents to reach the men’s doubles and mixed doubles semifinals respectively. Youngster Dong Tianyao surprised Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long to book a spot in the men’s singles last four.

After beating Indonesian pair Calnan/Martin 2-0 in the previous round, second seeds Liang/Wang took down seventh seeds Kang Min-hyuk/Ki Dong-ju in straight games (21-19, 21-9), securing their fourth consecutive win over the Korean duo to advance to the MD semis. In an all-Chinese MD quarterfinal, Chen Boyang/Liu Yi defeated teammates Huang Di/Liu Yang. They will now face Liang/Wang in the bottom-half semifinal, guaranteeing China a spot in the men’s doubles final.

In mixed doubles, top seeds Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping beat Japan’s Koga/Saito 21-14, 21-18 and will next face US pair Jia/Che in the semis. Guo Xinwa/Chen Fanghui also won 2-0 against Indonesia’s Kusharjanto/Widjaja and will take on third-seeded Thai pair Ruttanapak/Jenicha.

The two young Chinese men’s singles players had contrasting results: Hu Zhe'an fell to Hong Kong’s Ng Ying Lun 1-2 after 94 minutes, while Dong Tianyao edged past Ng Ka Long 2-0 in two tight sets. Dong will next face Indonesia’s Ubaidillah for a place in the top-half final.