* Srikanth to meet Lin Dan
* Chinese players eclipsed in women’s singles as Nehwal beats Liu Xin
China suffered another embarrassment in the women’s singles when India’s sixth seed Saina Nehwal showed China’s last hope Liu Xin the exit in the semi-finals with a 21-17, 21-17 win in 48 minutes in the USD700,000 Thaihot China Open in Fuzhou on Saturday as unseeded Lin Dan kept his country’s flag flying in the men’s singles.
Nehwal, this year’s Australian champion and the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, will take on Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi who kept her winning ways when she ousted yet another seed – South Korea’s Bae Jeon-yu (No 6) 21-10, 25-23.
Unseeded Lin Dan took 47 minutes to defeat Taiwan’s rising star Chou Tien-chen with a 21-17, 21-17 win after enduring some anxious moments in both sets. He will face India’s K. Srikanth who booked his place in the final after Germany’s Marc Zwiebler after 23 minutes because of injury. Srikanth won the first se 21-11 and was leading 13-7 when the German called it quits.
Zwiebler beat reigning world champion Chen Long in the third round and Commonwealth Games champion P. Kashyap of India in the quarter-finals to reach the last four.
RESULTS (ALL SEMI-FINALS)
Men’s singles’
Lin Dan (China) beat Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) 21-17, 21-17
K. Srinath (India) beat Marc Zwiebler (Ger) 21-11, 13-7 (rtd)
Men’s doubles
Chai Biao-Hong Wei (Chn) beat Lee Sheng-mu-Tsai Chia-hsin (Tpe) 21-12, 17-21, 21-11
Lee Yong-dae-Yoo Yeon-seong (Kor) beat Ko Sung-hyun-Shin Baek-choel (Kor) 21-18, 11-7
Women’s singles
Saina Nehwal (India) beat Liu Xin (China) 21-17, 21-17
Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) beat Bae Jeon-yu (Kor) 21-10, 25-23
Women’s doubles
Tian Qing-Zhao Yunlei (China) beat Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi (Jpn) 21-15, 21-16
Wang Xiaoli-Yu Yang (China) beat Luo Yung-Luo Yu (China) 21-16, 21-16
Mixed doubles
Yoo Yeon-seong-Eom Hye-won (Kor) beat Lu Kai-Huang Yaqiong (China) 21-12, 21-13
Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei (China) beat Zheng Si Wei-Chen Qingchen (China) 20-22, 21-15, 21-13
