The pair of Lee So-hee (29, Incheon International Airport) and Baek Hana (23, MG Saemaul Bank) have reached the women’s doubles final of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Indonesia Open.
The pair defeated Jung Nae-eun (23, Hwasun County Office) and Kim Hye-jung (25, Samsung Life Insurance) 2-0 (21-13 21-10) in the women’s doubles semifinals of the BWF Super 1000 Indonesia Open on Sunday in Jakarta, Indonesia.메이저놀이터
This is the sixth final on the BWF World Tour this year for the pair. Formed last October, they won their first title at the German Open in March.
They also reached the final of the most prestigious event, the All-Young Open, but lost 0-2 (5-21 12-21) to Kim So-young (31, Incheon International Airport) and Gong Hee-yong (27, Jeonbuk Bank). The pair won their second gold medal at the Malaysia Masters last month and followed it up with a silver at the Singapore Open.
The Indonesia Open is the highest-ranked Super 1000 event on the BWF World Tour, along with the Korea Open, Malaysia Open and China Open. Lee and Baek will be looking to return to the top of the rankings for the first time in 13 years after the pair of Kim Min-jung and Lee Hyo-jung won the title in 2010.
Lee So-hee (front) and Baek Ha-na play during their women’s doubles semifinal match at the 2023 BWF Indonesia Open. Yonhap/AP
Lee and Paik will face the winner of the semifinal between Japan’s Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota and Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagawara for the title.
In the next men’s doubles semifinal, Kang Min-hyuk (24, Samsung Life) and Seo Seung-jae (26, Armed Forces Athletic Corps) came from behind to defeat India’s Satwiksairaj Lankireddy-Chirag Shetty 1-2 (21-17 19-21 18-21).
Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae won the Malaysia Masters last month. They continued their winning ways at the Indonesian Open, reaching the quarterfinals. Against the world No. 6 pair of Lankyreddy and Shetty, Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae battled in every set but fell short of advancing to the final.
Kang Min-hyuk (front) and Seo Seung-jae play a match at the BWF Indonesia Open 2023. Yonhap/AP
Ahn Se-young (21, Samsung Life, World No. 2) lost 0-2 (8-21 17-21) to her “nemesis” Chen Yufei (China, World No. 4) in the women’s singles semifinals. Prior to this tournament, she had reached the final of eight consecutive international tournaments, reaching the pinnacle five times.
A win at the Indonesian Open would have propelled him to the top of the world rankings, but he was unable to play to his full potential in his latest international tournament and crashed out in the quarterfinals.
Ahn Se-young
Ahn won the Thailand Open and Singapore Open last month. She went for a third consecutive podium finish at the Indonesian Open, but her sixth title of the season will have to wait.
Meanwhile, SPOTV, SPOTV ON and SPOTV NOW, a sports OTT service, will broadcast the women’s doubles final of the Indonesian Open, featuring Lee So-hee and Baek Hana, live via satellite on the 18th.