Yesterday’s All-England Open badminton women’s singles final was to be between Taiwanese top seed Tai Tzu-ying and Ratchanok Intanon, the creative Thai shuttler who has been the youngest world champion and the youngest finalist in Birmingham, both aged 18.
Now four years later, Ratchanok has recovered from injuries which placed her participation in doubt, coming back from 12-16 in the first game and 13-15 in the second to win her semi-final 22-20, 21-16 against Japanese sixth seed Akane Yamaguchi on Saturday.
Tai was also in difficulties for a while, losing the first game 21-11 and going down 6-5 in the second before finding more creative patterns. That loosened the grip of South Korean Sung Ji-hyun as the Taiwanese went on to a 11-21, 21-14, 21-14 success.
In the men’s singles semi-finals, Lin Dan, the three-time Olympic champion, lost his bid to retain his title after a bewilderingly limp semi-final defeat to fellow Chinese Shi Yuqi.
The man regarded as the greatest player of all time briefly held two game points at 20-18 in the first game against the unseeded Shi, before slipping quietly away to a 24-22, 21-10 defeat.
Lin’s deflating loss ended hopes of another final showdown between the veteran greats — the 33-year-old Lin and 34-year-old Malaysian world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei, who had already reached the final.
“My condition is not very good,” said Lin, though he had looked in good shape when coming from a game down to beat Viktor Axelsen, the World Super Series champion from Denmark, the night before. “I am proud of the way I am still able to play at this level at my age.”
Four-time champion Lee reached the final for a seventh time by recovering from a worrying start to beat Taiwan’s Chiu Tien-chen 10-21, 21-14, 21-9.
It was a wonderful turnaround after a slow first game and a tournament preparation which had been decimated by injury — so wonderful that afterward Lee announced that his retirement, which has been mooted at least three times in the past four years, has been postponed yet again.
Lee would, he said, be back next year, when he will be 35.
“I’m still not 100 percent recovered,” he said, referring to the knee injury sustained in a trip on a badminton mat in Kuala Lumpur last month. “I just focus myself and do what I can. I just came here to enjoy it.”
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