Xu Chen – Ma Jin oust Nova Widianto – Vita Marissa in semi-final showdown: Indonesia Open GP Gold
China’s Xu Chen and Ma Jin reserved their berth in the Mixed Doubles final as they ousted Indonesia’s Nova Widianto and Vita Marissa in the semi-final of the 2011 Indonesia Open GP Gold, on Saturday, October 1. The event is in progress at the indoor arena
in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.
World Number Five and the fourth seeded couple of Chen and Jin delivered a convincing performance against the local shuttlers and won the battle in three sets by taking a court time of 50 minutes.
Chen and Jin won the opening game in a comfortable way but lost the second game to the Indonesians. However, they clinched the final set with a big difference and marched into the final of the event.
The start of the contest was interesting between both couples as they played complete badminton by employing their hard-to-learn skills in the opening set. They progressed without taking a comfortable lead until the break when the Chinese pair was three
points ahead at 11-8.
After the interval, the Indonesians tried to dominate the rallies but failed as they could not control the bird at the net. The impressive play of the Chinese duo continued and they won the first game in 17 minutes with a 21-17 score on the board.
In the second game of the set, the Indonesian duo cheered the home crowd when they played aggressive badminton and forced their challengers to get on the back foot. The Chinese shuttlers failed to perform well against the spirited Indonesians in the second
game and lost it by a margin of 16-21 in 18 minutes.
The third and deciding game was completely one-sided as Chen and Jin dictated the pace of the game by playing fast badminton. They maintained pressure on the home favourites in the whole set and finished it in just 15 minutes with a huge difference of 21-13.
The overall result of this rubber-set semi-final was 21-17, 16-21 and 21-13.
In the Mixed Doubles final, Chen and Jin will take on compatriots, Hanbin He and Bao Yixin.
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