WORLDS 2014 SF – World #1s cruise to the finals

The morning session at the Li-Ning BWF World Badminton Championships saw the world #1s from both men’s and women’s singles, Lee Chong Wei and Li Xuerui, authoritatively stamp their tickets to finals appearances at the World Championships for the 2nd consecutive year. Li never gave Mitani a chance to play her best. Lee on the other hand casually brushed aside flickers of resistance from home crowd favourite Viktor Axelsen.

By Emzi Regala, live from Copenhagen. Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

Lee Chong Wei efficiently dispatched his opponent, Danish youngster Viktor Axelsen, winning 21-9, 21-7 to earn himself another shot at the gold medal championship match. World#1 Lee needed only about 30 minutes to wrap-up the contest conserving energy for the finals match.

“I think Viktor is still very inexperienced but he has the potential to become a great badminton player in the future. As for the final match, I will go for gold. I am well-rested and I feel good about myself. Tomorrow I will play my best to give my country honour,” said a smiling Lee Chong Wei.

“I didn’t want to show him I’m scared of him. I had a lot to learn and I truly enjoyed the week. I am also proud of coming this far to achieve a medal,” said Victor after the match.

In another one-sided encounter, this time at the women’s singles, Li Xuerui started aggressively, never allowing her Japanese opponent Minatsu Mitani any chance to close in the score.  She ended their encounter in just a shade over 30 minutes 21-8, 21-14.

“I knew that Li’s stronger and better-skilled than me, but I wanted to test my abilities against her. I tried to prolong the rallies to somehow give myself a chance, but she was just too fast. She never allowed me any opportunity.  She was always ahead of me,” commented Mitani on her performance.

Defending champions Wang Xiaoli / Yu Yang and reigning Olympic champions Zhao Yunlei / Tian Qing both had their walk-in-the park share, overwhelming their respective opponents Japan’s Maeda/Kakiiwa and Korea’s Lee/Shin. The two Chinese pairs will be rekindling their rivalry – which had its first installment 4 years ago in the Guangzhou Asian Games – as they clash in the finals. Wang and Yu will be looking to retain their title while Zhao and Tian will be looking to get a hold of their first.

Kim Sa Rang, the other half of the Kim/Kim Korean men’s pair, has sustained a shoulder injury and had to give a walk-over to their compatriots Ko/Shin.  Kim – who played a very solid World Championships until now – is said to have an operation scheduled for next month for his shoulder injury.

Click here for complete semi-final results