With heart, MIDORIKAWA and SAITO qualify for the quarter finals
What an incredible battle between the two teams this morning ! And above all, what a fantastic comeback from the Japanese. Because after 12 minutes of play, they were completely suffocated by the pair Dechapol PUAVARANUKROH / Supissara PAEWSAMPRAN. Thanks to their numerous winning shots, the game gap continues to grow (3/9, 4/15, 6/18). One way, the Thais won 8/21.
Perhaps they thought the match would be easy. But Hiroki MIDORIKAWA / Natsu SAITO had under-treated their heart. With pride, they got off to a good start (5/2, 12/8). If the world number 3s closed the score (17/17), they were unable to overtake it. Ahead throughout the second set, the archipelago's players took the lead 21/19.
Psychologically, the Japanese took the upper hand. And tactically too, by defending extremely well. A real wall! As in the second set, they were ahead at the break (11/8). And little by little, the Thais fell behind (15/12, 19/13). And that's how the world number 9s took out the number 3s (21/16) in 48 minutes.
Hiroki MIDORIKAWA : “We were stressed at the start of the match, and I think it showed. Facing the world's number three is a real challenge for us. We were surprised by the speed of the game, we were shocked. But once we lost the first set quickly, my partner and I remobilized. We went into attack mode. This victory will give us a lot of confidence for the rest of the competition. We hope, of course, to go as far as possible.”
With the elimination of world number ones Yan Zhe FENG and Dong Ping HUANG, another favorite for the world title falls. The rest of the competition promises to be very open ! In quarter final, Hiroki MIDORIKAWA / Natsu SAITO will fight against Xin Wa GUO / Fang Hui CHEN (no. 7, China).