Friday, January 07, 2011

Lee, Taiwan's 'golden pair,' charge into badminton semis

Taipei, Jan. 7 (CNA) Taiwan's Chien Yu-chin and Cheng Wen-hsing advanced to the semifinals of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super Series Finals in Taipei Friday after sweeping their qualifying group.

Chien and Cheng, ranked No. 1 in the world in women's doubles and known in Taiwan as the "golden" doubles pair, beat Anastasia Russkikh of Russia and Petya Nedelcheva of Bulgaria 23-25, 21-13, 21-12 to win their third match in their preliminary group.

In Saturday's semifinal, the pair will face the second-seeded Zhao Yunlei and Chang Shu of China, who finished second in their preliminary group with one loss against the Chinese team of Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang.

Chien and Cheng are looking to win their first title in the annual season-ending tournament, the climax of the 12-leg BWF Super Series circuit, which is now in its third year.

World men's singles No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, who is seeking his third straight title in the tourney is scheduled to meet China's Chen Long in the semifinal after a 21-14, 21-12 victory Friday over Danish veteran Peter Gade.

Gade will meet Thailand's Boonsak Posana in the tournament's other semifinal.

In women's singles, top seed Wang Shixian of China beat South Korean Bae Youn-joo 21-18, 21-10 to set up a semifinal clash with Yip Pui-yin of Hong Kong. Bae will play Wang Yihan in the other semifinal match.

In men's doubles, Chai Biao and Zhang Nan of China will meet Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung of South Korea in one of the semifinals. Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, also from China, take on Mathias Boe and Carsten Morgensen of Denmark in the other match.

Taiwan's male duo of Fang Chieh-min and Lee Sheng-mu failed to make it out of the preliminary round.

In the mixed doubles semifinals, China's Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei will play the South Korean pair of Ko Sung-hyun and Ha Jung-eun. The other pairing will be an all-Thailand affair, with Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam facing Songphon Anugritayawon and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul.

Total prize money in this year's event, being held for the third time, is US$500,000. Eight players or pairs in each of the five divisions were split into two groups of four in the round robin preliminary round, with the top two finishers in each group advancing to the semifinals. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls