Badminton: Lee, Lin in dream All-England final

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Badminton: Lee, Lin in dream All-England final

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Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei will clash in the final of All-England Open.

11 March,2012 04:12 am

Lin Dan said he would cherish his meeting with Lee Chong Wei after badmintons two biggest stars won through for another showdown in the final of the All-England Open.Lins 21-18, 21-17 semi-final victory over Kenichi Tago, the rising 21-year-old Japanese player, left the World and Olympic champion from China in sentimental mood as he contemplated another dream final with the world number one from Malaysia.I just want to have a good memory of this, Lin said. I just want to have good memories of the big four. I dont know how often we will see each other again.He was referring not only to Lee, whose defence of the All-England title carried him to a third successive final with a 21-19, 21-18 win over Lee Hyun-Il.Lin was including Taufik Hidayat, the former World and Olympic champion from Indonesia, and Peter Gade, the former world number one from Denmark, all of whom are in their last year of competitive badminton.Lin described his performance against Tago a normal one, though many watching thought it anything but. A new womens singles champion is certain.That is because Wang Shixian, the third-seeded titleholder from China, was beaten 20-22, 21-18, 21-18 by her compatriot Wang Yihan, the top-seeded world champion.It lasted fully 85 minutes, and two matches on the adjacent court were completed in almost the same time it took for this manouevring encounter to evolve to its conclusion.That happened after Li Xuerui, a rising 21-year-old who is coached by two-time Olympic gold medallist Zhang Ning, halted the surprising Taiwanese player, Tai Tzu Ying.The seventh seeded Chinese beat her unseeded opponent 19-21, 21-16, 21-10, getting completely on top in the final game.China is sure of the womens doubles title as well, but cannot repeat its achievement of all five titles of three years ago.That became impossible after the mixed doubles titleholders, Xu Chen and Ma Lin, were beaten 21-16, 21-18 by Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl, the former world champions from Denmark.