WORLDS 2014 SF – Denmark falls, Spain rises!

Denmark’s shuttlers all failed to register victories in the semi-finals of their home Li-Ning BWF World Badminton Championships.  Axelsen, Boe/Morgensen and Fisher Nielsen/Pedersen were all defeated by their respective Asian opponents.  In a contrasting result, Spain’s lone representative Carolina Marin rose to the occasion by besting her opponent giving her the right to fight for the coveted gold medal.

By Emzi Regala, Badzine Correspondent live in Copenhagen.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

Throughout her first game against India’s P. V. Sindhu, Carolina Marin (pictured) celebrated with shouts that echoed inside the arena like a roaring thunder.  With every point she earned, they only got louder and louder as the first game neared its end.

In the second game however, she was restrained and instead concentrated on her badminton tactics.  Marin dominated the net against Sindhu as she spectacularly unleashed tight net shots that gave her the necessary breather.  When the last mark registered to the Spaniard’s scoreboard, she fell to her knees and then graciously waved at the appreciative crowd.  She will face the reigning Olympic champion Li Xuerui, who has been in superb form all throughout the tournament.

Current world #1s Lee Yong Dae / Yoo Yeon Seong had to battle the whole crowd, who were behind local heroes Mathias Boe / Carsten Morgensen (pictured) towards the latter half of the second game.  After a comfortable first game win, the Korean duo engaged in a fierce battle against the Danes.  Lee/Yoo wasted no time getting to match point, but to crowd came alive as Boe/Morgensen managed to save 2 consecutive match points.

The crowd got hopeful for a 3rd match point save when Boe left a shot, thinking it was going out.  The line judge called “IN” and the Danes challenged.  Hawk-eye reaffirmed the judge’s call, thereby putting an anticlimactic end to an otherwise exciting match.

To further disappointment of the crowd, Joachim Fisher Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen (pictured), Denmark’s last chance for gold, failed to live up to expectation, giving China’s Ma/Xu an easy way to the finals.  Mixed doubles finals will be a familiar clash between 2 Chinese pairs Ma/Xu and Zhao/Zhang.

It was not total disappointment to the crowd, as the match between China’s Chen Long and Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia lived up to its expectations with Sugiarto aggressively throwing himself up in the air continuously pounding on Chen’s defense.

Humid conditions at the Ballerup Super Arena may have been the extra “push” that Chen Long needed to get past Tommy Sugiarto in 2 straight yet heart-stopping games.  In the second game, with Sugiarto leading 17-16, the Indonesian slipped, giving away the precious equalizing point to Chen.  He tried to shake off what looked like a start of cramp, fighting all the way to the end, and falling short of his Chinese opponent 16-21 20-22.  Chen will try to fill in the shoes vacated by Lin Dan to stop Lee Chong Wei from reaching the top of the podium.

Finals line-up
WD: Wang Xiaoli / Yu Yang (CHN) [4] vs. Tian Qing / Zhao Yunlei (CHN) [5]
MD: Lee Yong Dae / Yoo Yeon Seong (KOR) [2] vs. Ko Sung Hyun / Shin Baek Cheol (KOR) [12]
WS: Li Xuerui (CHN) [1] vs. Carolina Marin (ESP) [9]
MS: Lee Chong Wei (MAS) [1] vs. Chen Long (CHN) [2]
XD: Zhang Nan / Zhao Yunlei (CHN) [1] vs. Xu Chen / Ma Jin (CHN) [2]

Click here for complete semi-final results