19th-seeded Shaw & Toni started their Saturday with a 2-0 (23-21, 21-15) sweep of their second elimination round match with Poland’s Aleksandra Wachowicz & Julia Radelczuk. It was their third straight-set win in the main draw. According to the newly introduced Challenge competition format, their tournament record was good enough for a spot in the semifinals.
21st-seeded Placette & Richard, however, had to go through an additional round-of-six step to get to the last four after their 2-1 (21-16, 9-21, 15-10) win over USA’s Hailey Harward & Kylie Kuyava-De Berg in the round of 12. In a match between two pairs of French Paris 2024 Olympians, Placette & Richard overcame their compatriots Clemence Vieira & Aline Chamereau in straight sets, 2-0 (21-12, 22-20).
Second-seeded Xue & Zeng were the other team that had to go through the round of six before advancing to the semifinals. First, they mounted a 2-1 (17-21, 21-19, 15-12) comeback against Japan’s Asami Shiba & Reika Murakami in the second knockout round, and then they delivered a 2-0 (21-17, 21-16) upset of top-seeded Wang Jingzhe & Xia Xinyi of China. Until recently, Xue and Xia were teammates, but now this was the second time they meet as opponents across the net with their new partners. Xue & Zeng managed to get back at Xia & Wang for last week’s defeat in the Asian Championship final.
Next, Xue & Zeng will meet another Chinese duo, 16th-seeded Wang & Dong, who are the only semifinalists who did not win their pool and had to play in the first elimination round on Saturday morning. They produced a 2-0 (21-17, 21-15) shutout of Germany’s Anna-Lena Grune & Lea Sophie Kunst and went on to master a 2-0 (23-21, 21-14) upset of fifth-seeded Australians Taliqua Clancy & Georgia Johnson. In that match, Dong impressed with six aces, while Wang raised five kill blocks.
The all-Chinese semifinal will open the last women’s competition day on Sunday at 11:00 local time (03:00 UTC). Shaw & Toni and Placette & Richard will follow at 12:00 (04:00). The bronze medal match is set to start at 15:00 (07:00), while the gold medal showdown is scheduled for 16:00 (08:00).
