Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai produced a scintillating performance to beat second seeds Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping to enter the mixed doubles semifinals of the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships 2019 today.

Defending women’s singles champion Tai Tzu Ying stayed on track to achieve a hat-trick of titles, beating Saina Nehwal in straight games.  In the semifinal tomorrow, she will take on Akane Yamaguchi, whom she beat in last year’s final.

Indonesia had a good day in men’s doubles, with veterans Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan and young pair Muhammad Rian Ardianto/Fajar Alfian entering the last-four in opposite halves.

Match of the Session

The most absorbing match of the morning session was the clash between Malaysia’s Goh/Lai and China’s Wang/Huang.

It was a high-paced encounter, and with the end nearing, the action crackled with electricity. It was Goh and Lai’s stunning defence under pressure that swung the match their way; the Malaysians withstood the barrage of smashes from Wang Yilyu and kept the rallies going until Goh found his openings.

“It was one of the best matches we’ve played,” said Lai. “They won the World Tour Finals in December and are one of the best pairs around, and to beat them gives us so much confidence.”

The Equation

Goh and Lai run into defending champions Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino (Japan) for the first time.

Did You Know?

Goh and Lai had a 2-1 record over Wang/Huang going into the All England, but had lost their last match – a 21-18 21-6 hammering at the Japan Open in September last year.

Other Results

• Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long made his first semifinal in over a year as he overcame the loss of the first game to beat Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto 16-21 21-14 21-15.
• Men’s singles defending champion Shi Yuqi (China) eased past Kanta Tsuneyama (Japan) in just 37 minutes, 21-14 21-7.
• Women’s doubles world champions Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara had to work hard to beat China’s Li Wenmei/Zheng Yu and will face Shiho Tanaka/Koharu Yonemoto in an all-Japanese semifinal.

Call it magic! Great defence by Akane Yamaguchi 🇯🇵 #YAE19 #HSBCBWFbadminton pic.twitter.com/At3w8D9hnN

— BWF (@bwfmedia) March 8, 2019

Talking Point

“I do smile when I make mistakes and I think that gives me the right mentality when I lose points because I can get quite annoyed.” – He Bingjiao, after losing 21-16 19-21 21-12 to Akane Yamaguchi.