by Ian Marshall, Editor

Otherwise, for China it was progress but not without moments of concern; they faced most worthy and determined adversaries in the quest for places on the podium.

Most impressively, Xu Haidong and Guo Yuhan, the no.30 seeds, accounted for Russia’s Vladimir Sidorenko and Mariia Tailakova, the no.14 seeds, in three straight games (11-8, 11-5, 11-4). However, for their compatriots, achieving progress was a much greater task, exacting experiences were endured.

Yu Heyi and Qian Tianyi, the no.4 seeds, needed the full five games to beat Japan’s Yukiya Uda and Miyuu Kihara, the no.8 seeds (9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-13, 11-8), a situation that also applied to Xu Yingbin and Shi Xunyao, the no.5 seeds. They found the French combination of Leo de Nodrest and Lucie Gauthier, the no.20 seeds, most worthy opponents; as with Yu Heyi and Qian Tianyi, matters were settled in five games (11-7, 10-12, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8).

In the penultimate round, Xu Haidong and Guo Yuhan meet Yu Heyi and Qian Tianyi, Feng Yi-Hsin and Su Pei-Ling oppose Xu Yingbin and Shi Xunyao; both the semi-finals and the final of the Mixed Doubles event at the 2018 World Junior Championships will be conducted on Sunday 9th December, the closing day of action in Bendigo.