All four singles finalists have a date with history
All four singles finalists in S'pore Open chasing their own personal milestones
They were expected to lose their matches against higher-ranked opponents, and leave for home the following day.
But Hong Kong's Hu Yun and Taiwan's Tai Tzu-ying have exceeded their own expectations and reached the men's and women's singles finals respectively today.
World No. 13 Hu Yun had already upset world No. 1 Chen Long of China in the Round of 16 and followed that up with qualifying for his first OUE Singapore Open final yesterday with a 20-22, 21-11, 21-14 victory over India's Kashyap Parupallii in the semis.
Hu, 33, said: "I am very happy and excited, I never thought that I would go all the way to the final here.
"I don't know what to say because I thought I would be home by now.
"It was a must-win match for me today since my opponent was weaker than my previous two opponents. I started slow because it had been quite physically tiring for me the past two days, but I managed to get into my rhythm gradually," added Hu, who could be the first Hong Konger to win the men's singles here today.
Women's singles world No. 6 Tai had also expected to pack her bags and head home after her semi-final tie against defending champion and world No. 7 Wang Yihan yesterday.
After all, the Taiwanese had just recovered from a knee injury which kept her from the India Open last month.
HALF-FIT
But, the half-fit shuttler beat the odds to claim a 21-16, 9-21, 21-14 victory over Wang, who won the women's singles title here for the past two years.
After her victory, a sheepish Tai was momentarily lost for words when asked to analyse her win.
She said: "I also don't know how I won. I didn't expect to because I had just recovered, and my opponents in the earlier rounds were not of the same standard as my opponent today.
"Perhaps my relaxed mindset helped me, and also, for the third game I was playing on the side where the draft is advantageous first.
"My opponent was also more pressured, and made more mistakes. That's how I had the chance to win."
Tai, who lost her only other Singapore Open final in 2010 to India's Saina Nehwal, will be up against China's Sun Yu, who will be chasing her own piece of history.
The Chinese world No. 11 is making her first-ever appearance in a Superseries final, after beating compatriot Wang Shixian 21-14, 11-21, 21-19 in the last four yesterday.
Sun, 21, said: "This is only my second time competing here, I lost in the semi-finals the last time in 2013.
"It is my first time competing in a Superseries final, and it will be the final match for me this tournament, I'll definitely do my best to win the title."
Also chasing his own personal milestone is Japanese world No. 10 Kento Momota, who is also making his first appearance in a Superseries final today.
The 20-year-old will face Hu in the final today, after beating defending champion Simon Santoso 21-10, 21-13.
Momota did not play on Friday, after his quarter-final opponent H S Prannoy pulled out due to injury.
NO ADVANTAGE
Momota said: "I don't think I had any advantage with the day's break on Friday.
"Simon is very good at the net, so I kept on rallying with him.
"But I'd like to play against Simon again when he is in a better physical condition though."
On his debut Superseries final today, he said: "I am not nervous at all, I've played against Hu Yun quite a number of times, and I know what he is capable of."
WHAT'S GONE
SEMI-FINALS
- Men's singles: Hu Yun (HKG) bt Kashyap Parupalli (IND) 20-22, 21-11, 21-14; Kento Momota (JPN) bt Simon Santoso (INA) 21-10, 21-13
- Women's singles: Sun Yu (CHN) bt Wang Shixian (CHN) 21-14, 11-21, 21-19; Tai Tzu-ying (TAI) bt Wang Yihan (CHN) 21-16, 9-21, 21-14
- Men's doubles: Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan (CHN) bt Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan (INA) 18-21, 21-8, 21-17; Angga Pratama/Ricky Karanda Suwardi (INA) bt Hiroyuki Endo/Kenichi Hayakawa (JPN) 21-17, 20-22, 21-17
- Women's doubles: Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN) bt Wang Xiaoli/Yu Yang (CHN) 11-21, 21-19, 21-11; Ou Dongni/Yu Xiaohan (CHN) bt Reika Kakiiwa/Miyuki Maeda (JPN) 21-18, 22-20
- Mixed doubles: Lu Kai/Huang Yaqiong (CHN) bt Xu Chen/Ma Jin (CHN) 21-17, 22-20; Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei (CHN) bt Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir (INA) 21-16, 24-22.
WHAT'S ON
FINALS
- Men's singles: Hu Yun (HKG) v Kento Momota (JPN)
- Women's singles: Tai Tzu-ying (TPE) v Sun Yu (CHN)
- Men's doubles: Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan (CHN) v Angga Pratama/Ricky Karanda Suwardi (INA)
- Women's doubles: Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN) v Ou Dongni/Yu Xiaohan (CHN)
- Mixed doubles: Lu Kai/Huang Yaqiong (CHN) v Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei (CHN)
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