Australian Badminton Open: Men's Doubles Pair Chen Cheng-Kuan and Liu Guang-Heng Advance to Semifinals After Opponent's Retirement

At the BWF Super 500 Australian Badminton Open, Taiwan's men's doubles pair 'Kuan-Kuang,' Chen Cheng-Kuan and Liu Guang-Heng, advanced to the semifinals today after their Indian opponents retired while trailing 21-19, 16-9 in the quarterfinals.

Chen Cheng-Kuan and Liu Guang-Heng officially began partnering in international competitions starting from the Thailand Open in May. Ranked 174th by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), this was only their fifth tournament together.

Today marked their first encounter against the Indian pair Hariharan Amsakarunan and Arjun Madathil Ramachandran, ranked 27th in the world.

In the first game, Chen and Liu fell behind 1-5 early but quickly stabilized, aggressively contesting the first three shots to level the score at 5-5. The match then entered a tight battle. Trailing 13-14, the Taiwanese duo scored three consecutive points to gain a slight advantage and secured the first game with solid defense.

In the second game, Chen and Liu surged to a 10-4 lead early on and were leading 16-9 when their opponents decided to retire, allowing the Taiwanese pair to achieve their best result since teaming up.

Liu Guang-Heng, speaking to a Central News Agency reporter, said with a smile: 'This is probably the first time I've advanced due to an opponent's retirement—it feels quite lucky.'

He added that their pre-tournament goal was 'at least reaching the quarterfinals, as we hadn't achieved that before as a pair. Now that we've made it to the semifinals, we really want to fight for a spot in the final.'

Their semifinal opponent tomorrow will be the Indonesian pair Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani, who defeated the 'twin brothers' Li Fang-Ren and Li Fang-Zhi today.

Besides Chen and Liu in men's doubles, another Taiwanese pair advancing to the semifinals is women's doubles team Hsu Yin-Hui and Lin Chih-Yun, who will next face the Indonesian pair Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Meilysa Trias Puspitasari. (Editor: Li Hsi-Chang)