As it happened: Fernaldi and Sukamuljo reign supreme at Japan Open

Catch the live updates from the Japan Open 2018, where semifinals in the men's and women's sections are set to be played today.

Updated : Sep 15, 2018 15:29 IST

Viktor Axelsen during his quarterfinal match against Anthony Sinisuka Ginting on Friday.
Viktor Axelsen during his quarterfinal match against Anthony Sinisuka Ginting on Friday.
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Viktor Axelsen during his quarterfinal match against Anthony Sinisuka Ginting on Friday.

Good morning, welcome to Sportstar 's live blog of the semifinals at the Japan Open 2018.

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3:05pm Men's Doubles: It is all over. What an incredible game of badminton! Shuttlers Gideon Markus Fernaldi and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo fight it back to the top and dismantle the opponents with a 21-13 thrashing.

2:53pm Men's Doubles: It all boils down to the last set. It is 3-all for now.

2:51pm Men's Doubles: No, China makes it 1-1. They do not give away another point as they finish off 21-14.

2:50pm Men's Doubles: Wait, will it be another surprise comeback? Its 18-14 now with the Indonesians inching closer.

2:47pm Men's Doubles: An incredible point snatched from Jiting He and Qiang Tan by Gideon Markus Fernaldi and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo. They move to 11 now and there is still a difference of 7 points. Is it too late?

2:42pm Men's Doubles: China extending the lead easily now. It is 14-9.

2:33pm Men's Doubles : Again, Jiting He and Qiang Tan take a lead of three in the second set. The score reads 8-5.

2:26pm Men's Doubles : A late but incredible comeback saw the Indonesians easily running away with the first set 21-16.

2:18pm Men's Doubles: The Indonesian pairing of Gideon Markus Fernaldi and
Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo trail one point behind China's Jiting He and Qiang Tan. Score reads 9-8 in favour of China.

2:01pm Women's singles: Marin wins the second game 21-13 to book her place in the final, where she will meet Nozomi Okuhara.

1:55pm Women's singles: Marin leads Yufei Chen 11-9 in the second game.

1:42pm Women's singles: Marin has needed only 19 minutes to win the first game 21-12 against Yufei Chen.

1:35pm Women's singles: Marin has taken control of the first game, which she leads 11-8 at the midway point, after a sluggish start against Yufei Chen.

1:22pm Women's singles: Carolina Marin is up against Yufei Chen of China in the second women's singles semifinal.

1:11pm Men's singles: Phetpradab stages a magnificent comeback in the second game, which he wins 21-16 to win the match 21-12 21-16. He will face Japanese Kento Momota in the final.

1:07pm Men's doubles: Junhui Li and Yuchen Liu win the second game 21-16 to book their place in the final, having won the first 21-14.

12:56pm Men's singles: Dang-Keun Lee fights back to take a three-point lead at the midway point of the second game. He leads Phetpradab 11-8.

12:41pm Men's doubles: Junhui Li and Yuchen Liu have won the first game 21-14 against Hung Ling Chen and Chin-Lin Wang.

12:38pm Phetpradab takes the first game 21-12, dominating his Korean opponent Dong-Keun Lee all the way.

12:31pm Women's doubles: Qingchen Chen and Yifan Jia have booked their spot in the final with the straight-games victory over Yue Du and Yinhui Li, who have gone down 17-21 15-21.

12:12pm The second men's singles semifinal is about to get underway. Korea's Dong-Keun Lee takes on Khosit Phetpradab.

12:08pm Women's doubles: Meanwhile, Qingchen Chen and Yifan Jia are up against Yue Du and Yinhui Li in the second semifinal. The former has won the first game 21-17 and leads the second 11-8.

12:06pm Fukushima and Hirota hold off the challenge of Polii and Rahayu and book their place in the final. They win 21-12 21-18.

11:50am Fukushima and Hirota are being made to work a lot harder for points in the second game, which currently stands 15-14 with Polii and Rahayu holding a one-point lead.

11:20am Fukushima, Hirota take the first game 21-12.

11:03am The women's doubles match between Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota and Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu is in progress. The Fukushima-Hirota pair leads the first game 6-5.

10:45am Game and match, Momota! The Japanese is through to the final with a 21-18 21-11 win over Viktor Axelsen!

10:42am Axelsen has lost his way and Momota, who currently leads 18-10, is now only three points away from sealing his place in the men's singles final.

10:36am Momota holds a three-point lead (11-8) at the midway point of what has been an exhilarating second game so far.

10:24am Second game's underway.

10:21am Axelsen's forehand shot is wide and Momota takes the first game (21-18) with an astonishing comeback after trailing the Dane 14-17 at one point!

10:20am Game point for Momota!

10:18am Momota has fought his way back, winning four straight points to lead the first game 18-14.

10:14am Axelsen holds a healthy three-point lead, up 17-14 in the first game against Momota.

10:08am Axelsen and Momota are level at 12-12 at just past the midway point in the opening game.

9:55am The men's singles semifinal between Viktor Axelsen and Kento Momota is in progress, the former leading 7-5 in the first game.

9:41am Wang and Huang have reached the final, beating Watanabe and Higashino 21-15 21-17 in the last-four. They will play Siwei Zheng and Yaqiong Huang in the final.

9:33am Wang and Huang now four points away from a place in the finals. They lead 17-14 against Watanabe and Higashino.

9:24am At the midway point in the second game, Wang and Huang lead 11-9. They won the first game 21-15.

9:12am Wang and Huang have taken the first game 21-15. They also hold a slender lead in the second, up 2-1 on Watanabe and Higashino.

8:55am The second mixed doubles semifinals between Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino and Yilyu Wang and Dongping Huang is in progress. Wang and Huang hold a one-point lead in the first game.

8:36am That's game and match for Okuhara, who beats Ohori 21-12 21-12 to enter the Japan Open final. She awaits the winner of the other semifinal between Carolina Marin and Yufei Chen.

8:31am Okuhara is currently six points away from booking a spot in the final. She leads Ohori 15-9 in the second game.

8:27am At the midway point in the second game, Okuhara leads Ohori 11-8.

8:13am Okuhara takes the first game 21-12. Work to do for Ohori.

8:10am Okuhara is inching closer to winning the first game, she leads Ohori 18-12.

8:04am Okuhara has built a healthy lead of four points in the first game, up 13-9 against Ohori.

7:52am The women's singles semifinal between Nozomi Okuhara and Aya Ohori is underway.

7:50am The pair of Siwei Zheng and Yaqiong Huang have won the first mixed doubles semifinal, beating the pair of Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh 21-16 17-21 21-14.

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Some heavyweight clashes are lined-up throughout the day, starting with Viktor Axelsen taking on Kento Momota in the men's singles semifinal. Nozomi Okuhara takes on Aya Ohori in the first of the women's singles semifinal, while Carolina Marin is pitted against Yufei Chen in the other semifinal.

Here's what happened yesterday .

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