PETALING JAYA: Carolina Marin’s return to form is set to spice up the competition in the women’s singles.
Marin stormed into the final of the Indonesian Open after sweeping aside Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon 21-12, 21-11 at the Istora Senayan Stadium in Jakarta yesterday.
World No. 6 Marin had been slowly rediscovering her best form after recovering from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus injuries to her left knee in 2021.
The three-time world champion and 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallist has now reached her first World Tour Super 1000 final since returning from her injury in April last year.
Marin, who turned 30 on Friday, will be bidding to win her biggest title since her return from injury.
Standing in her way in the final today is China’s reigning Olympic champion Chen Yufei.
Yufei claimed an impressive 21-8, 21-17 victory over South Korea’s recent Singapore Open winner An Se-young.
The former will be out to win her first title of the year in her second final.
Yufei finished runner-up to Se-young in the All-England.
In the men’s doubles, India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty showed great determination and fighting spirit to come from behind and defeat South Korea’s Malaysian Masters champions Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae 17-21, 21-19, 21-18 in a pulsating last-four match.
Satwiksairaj-Chirag will take on either national pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik or homesters Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Rambitan in the final today.
In the mixed doubles, China’s world No. 1 Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong set up a mouth-watering title showdown with Japan’s world No. 3 Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino after overcoming compatriots Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping 21-19, 21-10.
Watanabe-Higashino needed to dig deep to subdue Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet 22-20, 11-21, 21-16.
SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) 17-21, 21-19, 21-18.
Women’s singles: Chen Yufei (Chn) bt An Se-young (Kor) 21-8, 21-17; Carolina Marin (Spa) bt Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) 21-12, 21-11.
Women’s doubles: Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) bt Jeong Na-eun-Kim Hye-jeong (Kor) 21-13, 21-10.
Mixed doubles: Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) bt Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) 21-19, 21-10; Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (Jpn) bt Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet (Hkg) 22-20, 11-21, 21-16.
