Carolina Marin’s couldn’t savor her victory over India’s Saina Nehwal for more than a day as the Spaniard met her match in China’s Wang Yihan on Saturday. The two women fought hard for a place in Sunday’s final and after a three-game battle lasting an hour and 19 minutes, Yihan went through, leaving the world no.1 disappointed. However, Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Ying spread cold water over the hopes of an all-Chinese women’s singles final on Sunday with a surprisingly easy victory over Wang Shixian. Friday’s sensational Dutch women’s doubles team of Eefje Muskens/Selena Piek also succumbed in their bid to enter final, going down to Japanese no.1 seeds Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi. Friday’s other news-makers, the women’s Malaysian pair of Vivian Hoo/Woon Khe Wei lost against China’s no.3 seeds Tang Yuanting/Yu Yang. In Saturday’s results, world no.1 Korean men’s double team of Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong defeated Denmark’s Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen and Malaysian shuttle-king Lee Chong Wei entered another super-series final with a 39-minute defeat of Indonesia’s debut semifinalist Ihsan Maulana Mustofa. In the final, Lee’s title fight will be against Denmark’s no.5 seed Jan O Jorgensen, who edged past Chinese no.6 seed Tian Houwei. In a shock result, China’s world no.1 pair of Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei lost the mixed doubles semifinal to Korea’s no.3 seeds Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na but the other Chinese combo and no.5 seeds Xu Chen/Ma Jin easily went through by beating compatriots Lu Kai/Huang Yaqiong.
In the first women’s singles semifinal on Saturday, Wang Yihan played against Spain’s top seeded woman Carolina Marin, who had come through by beating India’s Saina Nehwal. Marin looked like carrying Friday’s momentum against Yihan in the first game and led all the way before winning at 21-16. Tables were completely turned in the second game and it was Yihan, who kept Marin at bay by leading from first point to the last and winning at 21-11. The decider was some kind of a humdinger with the lead changing in the early part before Yihan took a comfortable lead at break. But Marin gave one last push to come level at 13-13. However, that was the last time the Spaniard would remain in the match as Yihan pulled away decisively and won the semifinal 16-21, 21-11, 21-17. In the other semifinal played later in the day, Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Ying played with authority and though Shixian tried to catch up with her, Tai proved too good and won the match 21-9, 21-15 in just 34 minutes. The Taiwanese will play against Wang Yihan for the title on Sunday.
In the first men’s singles semifinal, Malaysia’s no.2 seed Lee Chong Wei didn’t face any difficulty in beating Indonesia’s Ihasan Maulana Mustofa. After scores were level at 2-2 in the first game, Lee pulled away and finished at 21-9. However, the Indonesian fought a close battle and led the Malaysian on two occasions. However at 17-17, Lee took the lead back from Ihsan and finished the match 21-9, 21-18 in 39 minutes. For the title on Sunday, Lee will play against the fifth-seeded Dane Jan O Jorgensen, who defeated China’s no.6 seed Tian Houwei 21-14, 18-21, 21-17.
In women’s doubles, Japan’s no.1 seeds Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi outplayed the Dutch pair of Eefje Muskens/Selena Piek. The Dutchwomen had created havoc on Friday by defeating Indonesia’s Rizki Amelia Pradipta/Tiara Rosalia Nuraidah after being down 4 match points in second game and then fighting hard in the decider before winning the 76-minute battle at 10-21, 24-22, 25-23. But against Matsutomo/Takahashi, Muskens/Piek couldn’t create the same spark and went down 10-21, 18-21 in 36 minutes. For the title on Sunday, Matsutomo/Takahashi will clash with China’s no.3 seeds Tang Yuanting/Yu Yang. The Chinese pair entered the final with a 21-15, 21-9 victory over Malaysia’s Vivian Hoo/Woon Khe Wei.
In men’s doubles semifinal, no.1 seeded Koreans Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong scored an easy 21-16, 21-14 victory over Denmark’s Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen. In Sunday’s final, the Koreans will meet Chinese no.5 seeds Chai Biao/Hong Wei, who took three games before overpowering the Danish pair of Mads Conrad-Petersen/Mads Pieler Colding 18-21, 21-16, 21-14.
The shock of the day was the tame loss of China’s world no.1 mixed doubles team of Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei. The Chinese were surprisingly low key against Korea’s no.3 seeds Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na in their 14-21, 17-21 defeat. For the title on Sunday, Hyun/Ha Na will square up with China’s no. 5 seeds Xu Chen/Ma Jin, who defeated compatriots Lu Kai/Huang Yaqiong 21-15, 21-18.
