Chong Wei Sails To The Final

KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 (Bernama) -- World number one men' singles Datuk Lee Chong Wei breezed to the All England badminton championships final, after defeating Peter Gade of Denmark at National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, Saturday.

Lee's rival in the final which will be held on Sunday night will be the winner of the other semifinal clash between Bao Chunlai of China and Tago Kenichi of Japan.
The match between the Chinese and the Japanese will be held later today or early Sunday.

Although the 28-year-old Lee was looking nervous in the early minutes and lost a few points because of unforced errors at the net, the top seed regained his focus and continued to fight smartly.

World number five Gade, however, would not back down so easily. The 33- year-old and former world number one, managed to lead at certain stages.

The battle to final, that lasted 47 minutes, ended up with Lee overcoming the Danish seasoned campaigner and won the semifinal match in straight sets 21-17, 21-14.

Now, that the world number two Lin Dan of China, who was favourite to win the championships is out of the running after losing to his compatriot Bao Chunlai in the quarter-finals, Lee's chance to grab his first ever All England title looks very promising.

Source : BERNAMA