Chinese shuttlers secure women's last four in China Open
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Xinhua, November 26, 2011
Thailand Open winner Li Xuerui dispatched Thai teenager Inthanon Ratchanok 16-21, 21-13 and 21-7 on Friday to see China nail all four places of women's singles semifinal in China Open.
Ratchanok ousted Wang Shixian, the last year's BWF (World Badminton Federation) Superseries Finals champion, in the second round. The surprising victory boosted young Thai's confidence but Li was more prepared for the quarterfinal.
"Wang told me about her style and how to fight against her, so I controlled the boundary and played more aggressively," said Li.
The other three Chinese semifinalists were world champion Wang Yihan, newly crowned Hong Kong Open gold medalist Wang Xin and former Asian junior champion Liu Xin.
In the men's singles, Danish veteran Peter Hoeg Gade failed to enter semifinals, as his Indonesian opponent Simon Santoso managed to surge back at 21-15, 15-21 and 16-21 for the fourth victory in their 14 battles.
"Of course I knew he's going to be very fresh but on the other hand I've beaten him on several occasions," said the 35-year-old fourth seed who struggled through the first two rounds both in three sets.
"Unfortunately he switched around in the middle of the second set, he was playing so confident."
Santoso, who eliminated his compatriot Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat in 40 minutes in the second round, will face reigning China Open champion Chen Long in the semifinals.
Chen Long breezed by teammate Chen Jin at 21-13 and 21-17.
Chinese "Grand Slam" winner Lin Dan rushed into the 26th clash against his archrival Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia by knocking out hair-shaved Jan O Jorgensen at straight sets 21-17 and 21-14.
World No. 1 pair Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, who supposed to play the first session match, quit from men's doubles quarterfinals due to Fu's illness, sending Naoki Kawamae and Shoji Sato of Japan directly to face South Korean world championships runners-up Ko Sung Hyun and Yoo Yeon Seong.
Third-seeded Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen of Denmark set up a talk with three-time China Open men's doubles champion Jung Jae Sung and Lee Yong Dae of South Korea, the latter stamped their authority over Chinese duo Chai Biao and Guo Zhendong at 21-16 and 21-13 in the ending session.
