Arctic Race" Lai Baiyou/Cai Fucheng reached the Super 500 final for the first time. Two Taiwanese teams compete for the championship tonight

Lai Baiyou (left) and Cai Fucheng (right). (Provided by coach Hu Chongxian)

[Reporter Nian Miaoyun/Comprehensive Report] Taiwan's new generation men's doubles Lai Baiyou/Cai Fucheng defeated the French pair Julien Maio/William Villeger 21:15, 19:21, 21:13 in the top four of the Super 500 Series Arctic Badminton Open early this morning. They entered the Super 500 final for the first time in their careers. They are expected to compete with Malaysia's Ye Ruiqing/Tai Weiqin at 8 o'clock tonight.

Ranked 60 in the world, Lai Baiyou/Cai Fucheng are both only 20 years old. The two have been playing doubles together since they were in elementary school and high school. They won the men's doubles silver medal at the 2023 World Youth Badminton Championships together. Last year, they won their first super championship since co-production at the Super 300 Series U.S. Badminton Open.

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Lai Baiyou/Cai Fucheng continue to seek breakthroughs this season. This week they defeated Denmark and Malaysia in the Arctic competition and successfully entered the top four. Today they met France's Maiou/Vilig, ranked 56th in the world. The two sides have no record of fighting.

Although Lai Baiyou/Cai Fucheng took the lead to win the first game at 21:15, they faced a lot of challenges in the second game. After a back-and-forth with their opponents, they still lost by a slight margin and were forced out of the deciding game. Fortunately, the two regained their morale in the decisive game and started with a 7:3 offensive. Although they were once tied at 9:9, they quickly gained an advantage by grabbing 5 points in a row and won the victory and the final ticket with 21:13.