The fifth day of Beijing Olympic badminton tournament witnessed victories of all Chinese shuttlers at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium on Wednesday, except for one women's doubles pair losing in a Chinese derby for a final berth.
Wei Yili and Zhang Yawen, No. 3 seeds at the tournament, apparently lost their morale in the second game 12-21 after yielding the tight first game 19-21.
"The result is acceptable," said Wei Yili, who failed to win the bronze medal at Athens Olympics, while her partner Zhang Yawen burst into tears.
In another women's doubles semi-final, No. 4 seeds Lee Hyo Jung and Lee Kyung Won from South Korea beat Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna from Japan in straight games 22-20, 21-15.
On the opponents in the final, Lee Hyo Jung said she would prefer to play against Du Jing and Yu Yang, "because they are very young, and at the All-England Open we beat them."
In the women's singles quarter-finals, all three Chinese shuttlers, also top three seeds, survived tough matches and stepped into semi-finals.
Top seed Xie Xingfang beat No.7 seed Xu Huaiwen from Germany 21-19, 22-20, to whom she had never lost before the Beijing Olympics.
Defending champion Zhang Ning, despite the age disadvantage to the opponent, clinched the victory in a 66-minute match over No. 5 seed Pi Hongyan from France, who is four years younger than the 33-year-old veteran.
No. 3 seed Lu Lan played a record high score in the second game 29-27 against Wong Mew Choo from Malaysia and finally booked a berth in semi-finals.
The only semi-final seat in women's singles was occupied by Maria Kristin Yulianti from Indonesia, who won a tight match against Indian dark horse Saina Nehwal 26-28, 21-14, 21-15.
In men's doubles, No.2 seeds Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng from China didn't face much challenge from Howard Bach and Bob Malaythong of the United States in the quarter-final, crushing them 21-9, 21-10.
In the semi-final, Cai and Fu will meet Lee Jae Jin and Hwang Ji Man from South Korea, who defeated Keita Masuda and Tadashi Ohtsuka from Japan 21-12, 18-21, 21-9.
Top seeds Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan from Indonesia and Danish veterans Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen also advanced into semi-finals of men's doubles.
(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2008)