Li-Ning BWF World Badminton Championships is coming to an end and only the greatest matches of the all, the finals, are left. Right here you'll get an overview of all the semi-finals - and the finals to watch Sunday.
Women’s Singles:
The Chinese women have made it quite successful the three other times the BWF World Championships have been taken place in Denmark. In both 1983 and 1991 the tournament ended with a Chinese on the top of the podium.
In 1999 the Chinese made a good performance as well, but they couldn’t stop the blond Danish star Camilla Martin, and they had to surrender after being defeated in the quarter-final, semi-final and final.
In the 2014 final it's sure, that we are going to have a champion who has never won the gold medal before. The Chinese Li Xuerui defeated Japanese Minatsu Mitani in her semi-final with 21-8, 21-14. Li Xuerui is favourite in the final, and she has been superior through the tournament, where she hasn’t lost a single game. She is ranked as number one in the world, and at the Olympics in 2012 she won the gold medal.
The 23 year old Chinese will face the two year younger Spanish girl Carolina Marin. The 9th seed and defending European Champion won her match against another surprise in this category, P. V. Singhu from India; 21-17, 21-15.
Men’s Singles:
In the first semi-final the topstar of the tournament, Lee Chong Wei from Malaysia, beat the young Danish hope Viktor Axelsen. The Dane was not left any opportunity in the match which ended 21-9, 21-7. After the match Viktor Axelsen wasn’t that disappointed but proud of his tournament and looked forward to work even harder in his training sessions to achieve the last percent to become a World Champion one day. Lee Chong Wei praised his young opponent and said that he had a bright future in front of him.
The final in Men's Singles will be a clash between the two top favourites in the tournament. Chen Long is ready for the final after a win against Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto, who couldn’t repeat his father’s triumph from 1983, when he conquered the gold medal. Chen Long was in problems in the second game, but he managed to get a 21-16, 22-20 win.
The record between the two finalists says 8 wins for Chen Long and 9 for Lee Chong Wei. Hopefully we can look forward to a close match between the two rivals. Lee Chong Wei hasn’t given his opponents more than 12 points in a single game, as Chen Long has been a lot more unsecure in his former matches.
Mixed Doubles:
The two last matches of Saturday's semi-finals were the two Mixed Doubles. Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei was facing their compatriots Liu Zheng/Bao Yixin. Zhao Yunlei already qualified for the Women's Doubles final earlier Saturday but apparently that wasn't enough for the Chinese who qualified for another final with a win 21-15, 21-13.
Danish Christinna Pedersen and Joachim Fischer didn't manage to make the home crowd happy - they lost in two games against Chinese Xu Chen/Ma Jin. The Chinese mixed reach a high level and the Danes couldn't keep up loosing in two games, 21-15, 21-9.
Women’s Doubles:
As for the Mixed Doubles, we will end up with a Chinese gold medal in Women's Doubles as well. 5seed Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei defeated Lee So Hee/Shin Seung Chan from South Korea; 21-13, 21-10 in their semi-final. The other Chinese pair is Wang Xiaoli/Yu Yang. They were just as superior as their compatriots and finished the Japanese Reika Kakiiwa/Miyuki Maeda with 21-8, 21-13.
Men’s Double:
It was an irritating announcement for the audience when the speakers in the arena informed that the South Korean pair Kim Ki Jung/Kim Sa Rang withdrew from the semi-final. It is their team mates from South Korea, Ko Sung Hyun/ Shin Baek Choel, whos there by have an extra day to prepare for the final.
The other semifinal had participation from a pair from South Korea as well. The leaders of the world ranking Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong, clashed against the Danes Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen. A match that was dominated by the Koreans, who showed very impressive play against the experienced Danes. They won the semi-final with 21-12, 21-18.