Chinese shuttlers to vie for three doubles titles at 2023 Malaysia Open

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shuttlers will fight for three titles in men's, women's and mixed doubles at the 2023 Malaysia Open on Sunday after securing a string of victories in the semifinal stage.

Men's doubles pair Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang bested India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty 21-16, 11-21, 21-15 in an intense match lasting over an hour. They will now face Indonesia's Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto for the title.

Women's doubles pair Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan outplayed Indonesia's defending champions Apriyani Rahayu and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti 21-9, 2-0 before the latter pair retired with injury during the second set.

They now face South Korea's Baek Ha-na and Lee Yu-lim who had earlier beat Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu 21-17, 23-21.

Mixed doubles duo Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong outclassed Dejan Ferdinansyah and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja of Indonesia 21-16, 21-18 to advance to the final where they will face off against Japan's Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino.

Meanwhile, Olympic champion Chen Yufei crashed out against South Korea's An Se-young 21-12, 19-21, 21-9 in the women's singles semifinal.

Men's singles world champion Viktor Axelsen secured his spot in the final after beating Japan's Kanta Tsuneyama 21-7, 21-15 and will face Kanta's compatriot Kodai Naraoka for the title.