China's Chen/Jia into 4th women's doubles final at badminton worlds

Chen Qingchen (L)/Jia Yifan of China react during the women's doubles semifinal match against Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu of China at the BWF World Championships 2023 badminton tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

COPENHAGEN, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Defending champions Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan defeated their Chinese compatriots Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu 21-14, 21-16 here on Saturday and are set to make their fourth appearance in the women's doubles final of the BWF World Championships.

The top seeds have won all their previous three finals, and are only one victory away from becoming the most successful pair in the tournament's history.

Next up for them are Indonesia's Apriyani Rahayu and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti, who saw off third-seeded Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong of South Korea, 21-9, 22-20.

"We were so familiar with our opponents today. We trained together in the national team and faced each other a lot in recent competitions, so we all knew each other's tactics very well, and the match all depended on our on-court performance," said Jia.

Zhang and Zheng tried to fight back in the second game, surging into a 6-3 lead only to see the Olympic silver medalists snatch six points in a row to turn it around.

The sixth seeds closed the gap to only one point at 12-11, but Chen and Jia produced another 4-0 scoring run to put the match out of their opponents' reach.

"I was very nervous at the start with too many thoughts in my mind, which made it hard for me to handle it. Jia could feel that my hands were cold," Chen admitted after the match.

It was the second journey for Zhang and Zheng at the World Championships as a pair, and they have set their own best record in the tournament.

"We have met some difficulties in the tournament, we overcame some of them and failed at others. But what we did well was that we always trusted each other and were resolute to win. Finishing with a bronze medal could also give us more confidence for the future," Zheng said.

In the mixed doubles semifinal, South Korea's Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung beat Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino of Japan 21-15, 21-13 to reach their first final in the event.

Chen Qingchen (L)/Jia Yifan of China compete during the women's doubles semifinal match against Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu of China at the BWF World Championships 2023 badminton tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

Chen Qingchen (L)/Jia Yifan of China compete during the women's doubles semifinal match against Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu of China at the BWF World Championships 2023 badminton tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

Chen Qingchen (L)/Jia Yifan of China compete during the women's doubles semifinal match against Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu of China at the BWF World Championships 2023 badminton tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

Chen Qingchen (L)/Jia Yifan of China react after the women's doubles semifinal match against Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu of China at the BWF World Championships 2023 badminton tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

Chen Qingchen (R)/Jia Yifan of China react during the women's doubles semifinal match against Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu of China at the BWF World Championships 2023 badminton tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

Chen Qingchen (1st R)/Jia Yifan (2nd R) of China greet Zhang Shuxian (3rd R)/Zheng Yu of China after their women's doubles semifinal match at the BWF World Championships 2023 badminton tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

Zhang Shuxian (L)/Zheng Yu of China react during the women's doubles semifinal match against Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan of China at the BWF World Championships 2023 badminton tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

Chen Qingchen (L)/Jia Yifan of China react after the women's doubles semifinal match against Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu of China at the BWF World Championships 2023 badminton tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

Chen Qingchen (R)/Jia Yifan of China compete during the women's doubles semifinal match against Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu of China at the BWF World Championships 2023 badminton tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

Chen Qingchen (L)/Jia Yifan of China compete during the women's doubles semifinal match against Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu of China at the BWF World Championships 2023 badminton tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

Chen Qingchen (L)/Jia Yifan of China react during the women's doubles semifinal match against Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu of China at the BWF World Championships 2023 badminton tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

Zhang Shuxian (L)/Zheng Yu of China compete during the women's doubles semifinal match against Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan of China at the BWF World Championships 2023 badminton tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, Aug. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)