Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun will meet Jens Eriksen/Martin Lundgaard in tomorrows Men's Doubles final.

 

That became a reality when the Chinese pair, in a very intense match, beat Jung Jae Sung/Lee Jae Jin, Korea 10-15, 15-6, 15-9

 

The Koreans seemed tired, especially in the third game, and the Chinese could make it almost FULL HOUSE for participating in the finals Saturday!

The are represented in 4 of 5 disciplines.

 

China against Chia in Saturdays Women's Doubles final.

 

Gao Ling/Huang Sui, China beat Lee Kyung Won/Lee Hyo Jung, Korea 15-10, 15-6 and are ready to take on their compatriots Wei Yilli/Zhao Tingting!

 

It will be an all Chinese final tomorrow when Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang meet in the German Open 2005 final.

 

That became clear when Pi Hongyan, France, had to bow out from the semifinal losing 6-11, 4-11 to Xingfang.

 

Pi seemed really in the mood for playing today, she was just up against an equally motivated opponent! And - she had a blister on the inside of her foot. It started to bother her in the middle of the first game and steadily got worse.

 

"It is no excuse for me losing today but it is a part of the explanation" she said after the match.

She now hopes to be completely ready for the Yonex All England that starts next week!

 

With Pi out, the Danish Men's Doubles will be the only Europeans in the finals tomorrow......

Wei Yilli/Zhao Tingting, China, only needed only 28 minutes to secure their place in the Women's Doubles final on Saturday!

 

15-1, 15-3 was the score when they were up against Wong Pei Tty/Chin Eei Hui, Malaysia.

This is very unusual to see the Malaysian Women's DOubles almost walking backwards in a match but they really didn't have much to do here in the semifinal.

 

Who Wei/Zhao will be facing in the final will be decided when the second semifinal between Lee kyung Won/Lee Hyo Jung, Korea and Gao Ling/Huang Sui, China is finished. They play at the moment...............

 

 

Lin Dan, China beat his compatriot Bao Chunlai 15-4, 15-9

 

As usual these two young chinese showed brilliant badminton, although it this time seemed that Bao Chunlai was suffering from a very hurtful elbow, preventing him from really hitting the shuttle as he usually does.

 

Lin Dan will be facing Hashim Muhd Hafiz, Malaysia, in the final Saturday.

Jens Eriksen/Martin Lundgaard, Denmark beat Kidho Markis/Setiawan Hendra, Indonesia 15-8, 15-13 and secured at least one European representation in tomorrows final.

 

In a match that was the most fantastic adverting for badminton, the 'grand old men' from Denmark showed the young boys from Indonesia, that there is a top badminton life even though the birth certificate is more than 30 years old!

 

With speedy rallies and a great variation in serves and shots, the 4 players on court nailed the audience to their seat.

Zhang Ning, China vs Hirose Eriko

 

400 spectators saw this Woman's Singles....... and more people are coming in as the day turns into evening........

 

Zhang Ning found herself the final after winning the first game 11-4 and although the Japanese woman give up more of a fight in the second game it was not enough.

Zhang Ning won also the second game with 11-4.

 

Who she will meet in the final will be decided later tonight.

The first semifinal in the Men's Singles was all-Malaysian .

 

Lee Chong Wei vs Hashim Muhd Hafiz.

 

And there is really not too much to say about this match.

Hashim was way too dominant in this. With elegance and ease he easily won the first game 15-3 and the second 15-7.

 

Welcome to the Semifinals day!

 

We started with the 2 semifinals in Mixed Doubles:

 

Lee Jae Jin/Lee Hyo Jung, Korea vs Chen Qiqiu/Zhao Tingting, China

13-15, 15-8, 15-7

 

China did not get the best start of the match, they were quick down 1-4. But after that they climbed the ladder really quick and took a 10-4 lead.

With great fight Korea equalised to 12-12 until China closed the first game 15-13.

The game was more even than the jump in the scoring indicates.

 

In the second game China got the best start but that didn't last long. Zhao Tingting made many judgement errors on the lines and that helped Korea get a good grip of the game, which they won 15-8.

 

In the decisive game the score was almost even all the time to 8-7 in favour of the Koreans. After changing side, there was nothing left in the Chinese pair and Korea cruised through to game and match 15-7.

 

The other semifinal was a clash between the Athens 2004 Olympic finalists, Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms, England vs Zhang Jun/Gao Ling, China.

 

Nathan and Gail came out on top in this match by winning 15-11, 15-12.

 

It was indeed a good match - most certainly caught the attention of the audience!

Long rallies, with return of the most impossible shuttles was the characteristic of this match.

In the first game China got a 5-3 lead before England took a giant step up to an 11-6 lead. China then answered back by changing style a little bit and direct the shuttle in all directions. England was answering back, getting a 13-11 lead before closing the first game 15-11.

 

England was best at the net throughout and that did make a difference.

It took a long time getting the score started in the second game. But England got a 2-0 lead and never really let it go.

 

It was a most entertaining game - and match - and got the support from the audience as it deserved!