Chen Cheng-Kuan and Liu Kuang-Heng Miss Match Point, Fail to Reach Australian Open Men's Doubles Final

Central News Agency Report

(CNA reporter Chen Jung-sen, Taipei, 13th) At the BWF Super 500 series Australian Badminton Open, Taiwan's men's doubles pair Chen Cheng-Kuan and Liu Kuang-Heng missed a match point in today's semifinal and ultimately lost 18-21, 21-19, 21-23 to an Indonesian pair, failing to advance to the men's doubles final.

With original partner Yang Po-han potentially retiring at the end of this season, 22-year-old Liu Kuang-Heng formed the 'Kuan-Kuang Pair' with new partner Chen Cheng-Kuan, a player of similar age, starting from the BWF Thailand Open in May. Although the pair is currently ranked only 174th in the world, they delivered a strong performance at this Australian Open, advancing all the way to the semifinals—just one step shy of the final—and demonstrating promising potential for the future.

In their first-ever encounter against the world No. 7 Indonesian pair Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani, Liu and Chen showed resilience in the opening set, exchanging leads repeatedly. However, a crucial service error at a key moment allowed the Indonesian pair to take the first set 21-18.

In the second set, Liu and Chen launched a scoring run after the technical timeout. Despite having two set points saved by their opponents, they managed to level the match with a 21-19 win. The deciding third set remained a tight battle, but after missing a match point, the Taiwanese pair was overturned and ultimately lost 21-23.

Meanwhile, fourth-seeded women's doubles pair Lin Chih-yun and Hsu Yin-hui faced a tough three-set battle against the Indonesian duo Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Meilysa Trias Puspitasari in the semifinals. They won the first set 21-15 but lost the next two sets 14-21, 10-21, narrowly missing qualification for the women's doubles final. (Edited by Li Heng-shan) 1150613

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