Chinese Luo sisters storm into badminton superseries finals

DUBAI -- Chinese sisters Luo Ying and Luo Yu won here on Saturday the semi-final of the Dubai World Superseries Finals 2015 to set up a final showdown against Danish duo Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl.

The Luo sisters beat Japanese opponents Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi 21-19, 21-19 in a neck-on-neck match, to the joy of the hundreds of badminton aficionados in Dubai's Hamdan Sports Complex.

Both sides were fighting hard from the very beginning, but the Japanese duo showed a lack of concentration, leaving the decisive points mostly to the Luo sisters.

"It was a tight match because of our levels are similar," Luo Ying told Xinhua.

Asked why the match took 1 hour and 26 minutes, Luo said that both teams were playing the defensive card and tried to take the dynamics out of each point.

At 13-13 the Luo sisters showed some differences and apparently accused each other of a mistake which led to the Japanese scoring a point. But eventually, the Chinese increased harmony in their movements and paved their way to the final in Sunday.

Matsutomo said she felt the Luo sisters were also mentally more competitive.

The Japanese told the media that they felt some exhaustion following fierce matches in the days before the Dubai World Superseries Finals started Wednesday.

Luo agreed, saying "This is really a world class tournament where all teams are very competitive, so the matches are exhaustive indeed."

In the second women's semi-final, Danish duo Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl beat Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii from Indonesia straight in two sets 21-17, 21-12 within 46 minutes.

The team from Denmark which clearly benefitted from being taller than their Southeast Asian opponents accelerated the match constantly.

"Being taller is not always an advantage, it depends very much on the level of your opponent," said Juhl who is 1.83 meters tall. "Howeber, of my leg does not get tired, then I feel my height is an advantage. Luckily, I had only a few injuries in my career," the left-handed player said.

The Chinese team is keen on bringing the victory home, too. "The Danish players are very experienced players and we are trying our best," said Luo.

The women's final will take place on Sunday, December 13.