Asiad: Indonesia upset China in women’s badminton

Incheon, Sep 27: Indonesian pair Polii Greysia and Maheswari Nitya Krishinda upset Chinese defending champions Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei 2-1 to sail into the women's badminton doubles final at the Asian Games here Friday.

The Indonesian pair took the lead after beating Tian and Zhao, who were also the reigning world champions, 21-17 in the first set before the Chinese shuttlers managed to catch up in the second, winning by 21-19, reports Xinhua.

The third game saw close rivalry until the physically tired Tian and Zhao succumbed to their opponents 17-21 after committing unforced errors.

"(I) feel physically down with falling stamina, and committed unforced errors, " Tian said after the match. Echoing Tian's claim, Zhao said, "We played to the best of our capacities, but we lost our steam in the final (game) because of our age. They (the opponents) were performing in a more stable way."

The two pairs have played against each other many times before, and Tian and Zhao had never lost a single game.

Earlier, in the men's singles event, five-time champion Lin Dan beat Hu Yun of China's Hong Kong 21-16, 22-20 to advance into the last eight. After notching up the first game with ease, Lin, in a replay of his second game against Lee Dongkeun of South Korea Thursday, met fierce resistance from Hu, trailing far behind him by 13-20. Once again, Lin quickly pulled himself together and came back from behind by scoring seven points in a row to seal his victory in a magical fashion.

World No.2 Chen Long, however, faced little difficulty in a following match as he eased past Momota Kento of Japan 21-19, 21-6 to join Lin in the quarter-finals. Notably, in the second game, after Chen took a lead of 7-6, he pulled away by going on a scoring spree before leaving his opponent down and out. 

"He (the opponent) committed many errors in the second game, unable to deal with it, obviously he lost confidence, might be affected by the wind," said Chen.

"If I met Son Wanho again in the next round, I'll go all out (to win)," added Chen, who was dumped out by Son in the men's team final.

In the women's singles event, top seed Li Xuerui outclassed Manuputty Bellaetrix of Indonesia 21-9, 21-19 before her teammate Wang Yihan, World NO. 3, squeezed past Indian badminton sensation Saina Nehwal 18-21, 21-9, 21-7 to join Li in the semi-finals.

In round two of mixed doubles Friday, Chinese Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunnei bulldozed their way past Hayakawa Kenichi/Matsutomo Misaki of Japan 21-8, 21-11, while their compariots Xu Chen/Ma Jin saw off Liao Min Chun/Chen Hsiao Huan of Chinese Taipei 21-14, 21-17 to book their berth in the last eight meeting.

Host South Korea also made progress in Friday's badminton event, as Lee Yongdae led his teammates to sweep to the next rounds except Sung Jihyun, who lost to Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the women's singles event.

Sung, ranked fourth, fell to No. 9 seed Tai 21-14, 9-21, 21-17 in some surprise, as the latter had never beaten her in the past.

Malaysian Lee Chong Wei, the World No.1, breezed past Parupalli Kashyap of India 21-12, 21-11 to sail into the next round in the men's singles.