China Masters 2024: Sabar/Reza Defeat Third Seeds to Reach Final

JAKARTA - Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Mohammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani followed Jonatan Christie to the final of the 2024 China Masters.

The Indonesian men's doubles pair defeated the host tournament's third seed, He Jiting/Ren Xiangyu, in two straight games, 21-16 and 21-18, at the Shenzhen Arena, Saturday, November 23, 2024.

Sabar/Reza's journey in the first set was without a hitch. Their points could not be matched by the Chinese pair at all.

Sabar/Reza had shot ahead from the start with five consecutive points. The score then had a narrow difference of 6-5.

However, this non-PBSI National Training Center pair pulled away again until they closed the interval with an 11-8 advantage.

After the break, the furthest difference was at 17-11 before Sabar/Reza finally secured the first set in 17 minutes.

In the second set, the duel was tight. Sabar/Reza. After the 1-1 score, they managed to pull away 6-2.

However, He/Ren rose and equalized the score to 6-6. Aware of the pressure, Sabar/Reza continued to press to get out of China's double threat.

Sure enough, they were able to control the game again and were ahead 11-9 at the break.

Just like the first set, Sabar/Reza's points could no longer be caught up by He/Ren.

In fact, Sabar/Reza had a large difference of 18-12 before He/Ren managed to get closer with five consecutive points.

The final points were tight. Fortunately, when the score was 19-18, Sabar/Reza did not panic and immediately scored two points to close the match.

In the final match which will take place on Sunday, November 24, 2024, Sabar/Reza will meet the winner between Jin Yong/Seo Seung-jae (South Korea) vs Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (India).

Indonesia has a total of two representatives who will play in the final. Apart from Sabar/Reza, Jonatan Christie had previously secured a ticket to the final after defeating the host's mainstay, Shi Yu Qi, in two straight games.