Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota booked their place in the final of the All England Open Badminton Championships with a straight-sets win over Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsutomo in an all-Japanese women's doubles semifinal on Saturday.
The world No. 3 pair overwhelmed Takahashi and Matsutomo, currently ranked seventh, 21-12, 21-12 at Arena Birmingham and placed a roadblock in the way of the Rio de Janeiro Games gold medalists' bid for an Olympic title defense in Tokyo this summer.
"Up until now we've played a lot, and we've lost a lot," Takahashi said of her partnership with Matsutomo.