Chinese star Lin Dan marched into the final of the world badminton championships yesterday as fellow world number one and teammate Zhang Ning suffered a shock defeat.
Defending champion Lin, known as Super Dan to his legion of fans, downed teammate Bao Chunlai 21-12, 22-20 and looked in formidable form heading into today's final.
Lin takes on Indonesia's Sony Dwi Kuncoro who won a gruelling three-game encounter with China's sixth seed Chen Yu.
PHOTO: AFP
With the crowd cheering his name, the Indonesian ninth seed threw everything at Chen, often diving to the floor in desperate attempts to reach shots.
"It's going to be another very difficult and tiring match against Lin Dan but this is my chance to win the title," said Kuncoro who slayed Malaysian giant Lee Chong Wei on his road to the final.
China's great hope in the women's singles Zhang was stunned by Hong Kong's Wang Chen who used contrasting pace to down the Olympic champion 21-11, 21-15 and reach her first ever world final.
"This is my last world championships, so I came here hoping to get a medal and now I'm trying to go for gold," a delighted Wang, 31, said of her win.
Wang said her strategy was to play fast and furious in the first game, but slow down the pace in the second, when she knew Zhang would come out firing.
Wang, the Asian Games champion, faces a showdown today with China's fifth seed Zhu Lin who easily dispensed with teammate Lu Lan 21-10, 21-13.
Zhang, the Olympic champion and a veteran of the Chinese team, joins a string of stars who have fallen in this wildly unpredictable tournament.
Malaysia's chances of winning their first-ever title were snuffed out yesterday when doubles duo Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah went down fighting against Indonesia's Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan.
The Malaysians, who have watched their more high-profile teammates exit Putra Stadium this week, produced some spectacular badminton but were eventually edged out 22-20, 28-26.
The Indonesian fifth seeds take on South Korea's Jung Jae-Sung and Lee Yong-Dae who defeated Japan's Shuichi Sakamoto and Shintaro Ikeda 21-16, 21-12 yesterday.
China is guaranteed gold in the women's doubles after third seeds Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen upstaged number ones Zhang Yawen and Wei Yili in a three-game thriller 19-21, 21-18, 21-16.
In today's final they will take on defending champions Gao Ling and Huang Sui who triumphed over Japan's Kumiko Ogura and Reiko Shiota also in three games 21-16, 23-25, 21-16.
It was China versus Indonesia in the mixed doubles, with the archipelago's Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir holding off a ferocious challenge from China's third seeds Xie Zhongbo and Zhang Yamen.
The Indonesians won the first game, only for China to charge back in the second.
Neither side would break away in the third, and China, at 17-20 down, saved three match points only to be denied, with Indonesia winning 22-20.
They now play China's number one pairing Zheng Bo and Gao Ling who had an equally tough encounter with Indonesia's sixth seeds Flandy Limpele and Vita Marissa which they won 17-21 21-19 21-19.
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