BADMINTON/Taiwanese badminton duo into women's doubles semis at German Open

Taipei, March 1 (CNA) Taiwanese badminton players Lin Xiao-min (林筱閔) and Wang Yu-qiao (汪郁喬) defeated their Chinese counterparts to advance to the women's doubles semifinals at the German Open in Mülheim an der Ruhr on Friday.

Teaming up for the first time this year, it took the 28-year-old Lin and 24-year-old Wang 41 minutes to beat Keng Shuliang (坑姝良) and Li Huazhou (李華洲) 21-16, 21-19 in a quarterfinal match played at the Westenergie Sporthalle arena.

The two Taiwanese shuttlers, currently ranked 68th in the Badminton World Federation rankings, have not lost a game since the tournament opened earlier this week.

Despite trailing early in the opening game Friday, Lin and Wang quickly caught up and clinched several consecutive points to seize the lead in the match.

Down 9-7 in the second game, they rebounded with eight consecutive points to lead 15-9 before closing out the match 21-19, staving off a fierce rally by their opponents.

Lin and Wang will next face the world No. 63-ranked Japanese pair Mizuki Otake and Miyu Takahashi in the semifinals at 1 a.m. on Sunday (Taiwan time).

They are currently the only Taiwanese players that have made it to the semifinals in Germany, as Chen Cheng-kuan (陳政寬) and Lin Bing-wei (林秉緯) were ousted in the men's doubles quarterfinals.

The German Open, which is being held until Sunday, is a Super 300 event and the fifth tournament of the 2025 BWF World Tour.