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August 31, 2014

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Home » Sports » Badminton

Lee, Li reach final at worlds

WORLD No. 1 Lee Chong Wei secured a third straight men’s singles finals appearance at the badminton world championships yesterday while women’s top seed Li Xuerui of China also advanced to the title match.

Top-ranked Lee, twice a runner-up at the tournament, brushed aside young Danish hopeful Viktor Axelsen 21-9, 21-7 in front of a partisan Copenhagen crowd to move within touching distance of a first major title.

Despite his advancing years Lee, who will turn 32 in October, demonstrated his enduring class with a sublime blend of blistering overheads and resolute defense to reel off 12 of the final 13 points in the first game and never looked back.

“So far things have got better each match,” said Malaysia’s Lee, who will face the winner of the match between Chinese second seed Chen Long and Indonesia’s fifth-ranked Tommy Sugiarto in today’s final.

Meanwhile Li ended the run of Japanese 16th seed Minatsi Mitani to seal a return to the women’s singles final.

World No. 1 Li, runner-up a year ago on home soil in Guangzhou, powered to a 21-8, 21-14 victory.

Mitani had claimed the scalp of defending champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in the last 16 before upsetting South Korean fifth seed Sung Ji-hyun in the quarters.

Li, 23, who moved a step closer to adding to the Olympic crown she won at London 2012, will play either Spain’s Carolina Marin or Indian teenager PV Sindhu in the final.




 

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