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Badminton world number one Axelsen into Indonesia Masters final / Photo: ADEK BERRY - AFP
Badminton world number one Axelsen into Indonesia Masters final
Badminton world number one Viktor Axelsen ousted Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting on Saturday to advance to the final of the Indonesia Masters.
The Danish ace beat home favourite Ginting 21-15, 21-15 in a 48-minute match at the Istora Senayan sporting arena in Jakarta.
"Ginting is always really, really tough to beat on home soil. But I managed to keep my game plan in the most important parts of the game," Axelsen told reporters.
In the final, Axelsen will face Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen, who defeated Singapore's Loh Kean Yew 21-16, 8-21, 21-19 in a tight game.
In the women's singles, Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Chen Yu Fei outplayed He Bing Jiao 21-17, 21-14 to advance to the final.
Chen will square off against Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon who defeated unseeded opponent Han Yue 13-21, 21-14, 21-18.
Meanwhile, hometown heroes Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo bowed out of the tournament after losing against unseeded pair Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang 21-17, 21-10.
The Chinese pair will face Indonesia's Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, who ousted China’s He Ji Ting and Zhou Hao Dong 21-17, 21-17.
In the mixed doubles, French pair Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue advanced to their first Indonesia Masters final after defeating Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh and Supissara Paewsampran 22-20, 21-12.
"We are really happy and excited for tomorrow," said Delrue.
The pair will square off against world number two Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong in the final.
Zheng and Huang booked their place in the final after ousting South Korea’s Seo Seung Jae and Chae Yu Jung 19-21, 21-14, 21-12 in the semis.
In women’s doubles final, world number one Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan will face Indonesia’s top seeds Apriani Rahayu and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti.
Chen and Jia ousted South Korean pair Jeong Na Eun and Kim Hye Jeong 21-12, 21-13, while Rahayu and Ramadhanti defeated Malaysia’s Tan Pearly and Thinaah Muralitharan 21-23, 21-14, 21-14.
Sunday’s finals will be followed by Indonesia Open, which is scheduled to be held between June 14 and June 19.
K.Evans--SMC
