Chen packs off Lin, Sania to meet Marin
Print Edition
TOP seed Chen Long finally got the measure of Olympic champion Lin Dan, beating his Chinese compatriot 21-12, 21-13 to reach the All England Open men’s final in Birmingham.
Lin and Chen’s meeting was their first on the Superseries circuit since Lin won a world championship encounter in 2013.
Chen set up a final with Denmark’s Jan Jorgensen, who eased past Sho Sasaki of Japan 21-11, 21-12 to ensure the men’s seedings went to form.
Earlier, Saina Nehwal, the world No. 3 from India, overcame another significant barrier when she reached the final of the All England championships for the first time in seven appearances.
Already the first woman from her country to win a Super Series title, as well as the first Indian to win an Olympic medal at badminton, Nehwal now earned herself a famous day at the legendary century-old tournament by overcoming the surprise survivor from China, Sun Yu, 21-13, 21-13 in 51 minutes.
“It is a big event and everyone dreams of winning,” Nehwal said. “This is a big hurdle and everyone (in India) expects a lot of me to win every tournament.”
The 24-year-old Nehwal has prepared for matches this week by watching the films of Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan.
“They have kept me relaxed,” Nehwal said. “I used to play with a lot of pressure but I was free today.”
Sun, the 21-year-old from Dalian, had scored two famous victories, against Ratchanok lntanon, the former world champion, and Li Xuerui, the Olympic champion, earlier in the tournament.
“Playing the semifinal at the All-England is an honor, and next time I shall try to do better,” Sun said. “Saina has improved a lot in the last couple of months, but this has given me confidence that I can improve.”
Nehwal was due for a final against Carolina Marin, the world champion from Spain, who beat Tai Tzu Ying, the seventh seeded Chinese Taipei player, 21-18, 21-11 against whom she might be regarded as the favourite.
Nehwal admitted that she hadn’t even expected to reach the semifinals because she had been confronted by Wang Yihan, the former world champion from China, whom she had never before beaten in a completed match. But the Indian had been at her best, even better than against Sun.
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