China’s Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi’s first-year partnership has been nothing short of impressive.

They have risen from No.264 to No.11 in the world rankings, and today’s semifinal victory over top seeds Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto, sees them reach their fifth final of 2022, of which they have won two.

It also keeps alive the possibility of Liu becoming just the second player behind Lee Yong Dae to win the season-ending finals with two different partners.

Liu won the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2018 with Li Jun Hu, and tomorrow will seek to lift a second end-of-year title against familiar foes Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan.

Interestingly they have a 2-0 record against the Indonesians this year, including victory on Friday in their Group B clash 21-13 21-18.

Liu said of their match today: “In the first game I didn’t play very well, the Indonesians were much stronger. In the second game we were not playing well, so the Indonesians led that game. In the third game, we stepped it up and got ourselves over the line.

“The points were going back and forth and we were glad to come back at the end and win. Ou played very well today. The main thing in matches like this is to try to control yourself, try to relax. In the end, it’s who dares to play the risky shots and who makes less mistakes.

“Now we play the Daddies who are our idols. We respect them. Although they may look slow, they can still play.”

Ou added: “For the final, I wish for everything to be okay. The Daddies have more experience than us, but we’ll try to do our best.”

Ahsan/Setiawan themselves are also eyeing more history, with a fourth finals triumph on the cards, their first being all the way back in 2013.

Ahsan/Setiawan toughed it out against Malaysia’s Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi 17-21 21-13 21-19.

→ Day 4 Results