ALL ENGLAND 2016 SF – Lee and Yoo go down!

After the top seeds in mixed doubles opened the floodgates, the remaining three world #1s fell in quick succession, the biggest upset coming with the win by Russia’s Ivanov and Sozonov.

Story: Naomi Indartiningrum, Badzine Correspondent live in Birmingham
Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

Lee Yong Dae / Yoo Yeon Seong (pictured below) had to admit the superiority of Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov (pictured top) in the All England semi-final.   The Russians picked up their first ever win against a top Korean pair in nearly a dozen attempts after struggling in three games, 14-21, 21-17, and 21-15.

“They played really well and really tested us out there. They played a very aggressive style today, in particular with their serve, which we found challenging and their mix up in play was also excellent,” said Yoo Yeon Seong after the match.

“It’s always really disappointing to go out at this stage of a tournament and we are frustrated we couldn’t finish off a good week. Of course, it would have been great to come back here on Sunday for the final, we have been in good form, but I think we really struggled out there today and had a poor match and didn’t deserve to progress,” Lee Yong Dae confessed

Meanwhile, it was really amazing result for the Russian. In their last meeting, during the 2015 French Open, they lost also in three games.

“That was unbelievable. This is the best tournament in the world and we’re now in the final after beating the top-seeded players. It’s a special win and an amazing feeling,” said Sozonov with a big smile.

On the other hand, China succeeded in making it an all-Chinese final in men’s singles. As expected, Lin Dan put himself in position to win another title after beating the week’s upset king, Xue Song.  Xue Song couldn’t make another surprise because Lin just too good, but he did push it to an 88-minute contest.

In the final, Lin Dan will be facing his team-mate Tian Houwei (pictured), who had a very tiring and tight match against Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, but made it through to what is only his second career Superseries final.

“I started a bit slow and I couldn’t play to the tactics the coach and I decided on before the match but that changed in the second game and our strategy worked very well. I’m very happy with that,” Tian said after the match.

Xue Song, of course, had been responsible for ejecting the first top seed from this All England but the remaining four all fell on Saturday.  For Carolina Marin and Luo/Luo, their losses to Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara (pictured bottom) and Matsutomo/Takahashi respectively were more or less predicted by the adversaries’ past records.

Finals line-up
MS: Lin Dan (CHN) [5] vs. Tian Houwei (CHN) [8]
WD: Misaki Matsutomo / Ayaka Takahashi (JPN) [3] vs. Tang Yuanting / Yu Yang (CHN) [6]
XD: Joachim Fischer Nielsen / Christinna Pedersen (DEN) [5] vs. Praveen Jordan / Debby Susanto (INA) [8]
WS: Wang Shixian (CHN) [7] vs. Nozomi Okuhara (JPN) [8]
MD: Hiroyuki Endo / Kenichi Hayakawa (JPN) [6] vs. Vladimir Ivanov / Ivan Sozonov (RUS)

Click here for complete semi-final results