Indonesia Open 2023: Viktor Axelsen and Carolina Marin reach finals
Axelsen defeated HS Prannoy to close in on a third consecutive title in Jakarta, as Marin swept aside Ratchanok Intanon.
Badminton
Olympic badminton champions Viktor Axelsen and Carolina Marin both won their semi-finals on Saturday (17 June) at the 2023 Indonesia Open in Jakarta.
On his return to action after a hamstring injury sustained at the Sudirman Cup, men's singles world number one Axelsen was in fine form as he defeated India’s HS Prannoy 21-15, 21-15 to reach his 10th BWF World Tour Super 1000 final in 11 events.
Only Anthony Ginting stands between the Dane and a third consecutive title on Sunday after the home favourite beat All England champion Li Shifeng 21-17, 21-15.
Tokyo 2020 gold medallist and reigning world champion Axelsen is bidding for a second title of the year having won January's Malaysia Open.
Rio 2016 women's singles champion Marin took just 43 minutes to move past another former world champion, Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon, in their semi-final encounter.
Spain’s three-time world champion won 21-12, 21-11 to set up a final with reigning Olympic champion Chen Yufei of People's Republic of China.
Seeded four, Chen got the better of Republic of Korea's world number two An Se Young 21-8, 21-17.
Like Axelsen, Marin has just one title to her name this season at April's Orléans Masters in France.
The Indonesia Open, which concludes on Sunday, is a Super 1000 event on the 2023 BWF World Tour with players able to earn ranking points which count towards Paris 2024 qualification.
Indonesia Open 2023: Semi-final results on Saturday 17 June
Mixed doubles: [1] Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong (CHN) def. [6] Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping 21-19, 21-10.
Women's singles: [4] Chen Yufei (CHN) def. [2] An Se Young (KOR) 21-8, 21-7.
Mixed doubles: [2] Watanabe Yuta/Higashino Arisa (JPN) def. Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet (HKG) 22-20, 11-21, 21-16.
Women's singles: [6] Carolina Marin (ESP) def. [8] Ratchanok Intanon (THA) 21-12, 21-11.
Women's doubles: [5] Baek Ha Na/Lee So Hee (KOR) def. [6] Jeong Na Eun/Kim Hye Jeong (KOR) 21-13, 21-10.
Men's doubles: [7] Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (IND) def. Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Saeng Jae (KOR) 17-21, 21-19, 21-18.
Men's singles: [1] Viktor Axelsen (DEN) def. HS Prannoy (IND) 21-15, 21-15.
Women's doubles: [7] Fukushima Yuki/Hirota Sayaka (JPN) def. Matsumoto Mayu/Nagahara Wakana (JPN) 21-16, 12-21, 21-13.
Men's doubles: [2] Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik (MAS) def. Pramudya Kusumawardana/Yeremia Erich Rambitan (INA) 12-21, 23-21, 21-13.
Men's singles: [2] Anthony Ginting (INA) def. Li Shifeng (CHN) 21-17, 21-15.
How to watch Indonesia Open 2023 badminton
The event is live to watch in some regions on the BWF YouTube page.
You can watch the action from Sunday's finals in Jakarta live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com with geo-restrictions also applying.