home >> News

Overall victory for host team in doubles semifinals

http://www.sports.cn/ 2010-09-19 11:30:00

(Changzhou, September 19) In the semifinals of the 2010 LI-LING China Masters Super Series Badminton Tournament contested in Changzhou on September 18, host China celebrated doubles wins one after the other.

In the men's singles, Lin Dan was challenged by younger teammate Wang Zhengming but managed to come from behind to outplay the latter 2-0 thanks to his superb skills, while another Chinese ace shuttler Bao Chunlai was not so lucky being eliminated by younger teammate Chen Long, also with 2-0.

The women's singles semifinals saw China's top-seeded Wang Yihan suffering 2-0 setbacks at the hands of Dannish veteran Tine Baun. Faced with Tine Baun's powerful attacks, Wang felt helpless and could do nothing much before losing her third consecutive match to her old rival. In another women's singles semifinal, Wang Xin defeated teammate Wang Shixian 21-11, 21-15 to advance to the finals.

The host team enjoyed an overall victory in all the doubles semifinals they had played yesterday. Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng became a hot favorite for the men's doubles title after achieving a hard-earned 2-1 victory over Korean archrivals Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae. In the finals they are to meet another Korean pair, No. 4 seeds Ko Sung Hyun/Yoo Yeon Seong, who whitewashed Chan Peng Soon/Lim Khim Wah of Malaysia in their semifinal yesterday.

In the women's doubles, Yu Yang/Wang Xiaoli, a newly-formed combination who made their debut in international competitions this time, showed their prowess by ousting No. 2 seeds, world runners-up Cheng Shu/Zhao Yunlei. With Lu Lu/Bao Yixin, a young Chinese duo, clinched a surprise win over top-seeded Cheng Wen Hsing/Chien Yu Chin of Chinese Taipei, the host team has acturally secured the women's doubles title in advance.

With Xu Chen/Yu Yang's 21-11, 21-17 win over Indonesia's Nova Widianto/Liliyana Natsir, the No. 1 seeds and the only non-Chinese pair left in the mixed doubles semifinals, China also swept the first two places in the MD. In the finals Xu Chen/Yu Yang will meet Tao Jiaming/Tian Qing, who edged teammates He Hanbin/Ma Jin in another semifianl match. For Olympic champion Yu Yang, being able to beat the formidable Indonesia duo before her retirement means much more than winning the tournament championship itself.