* Chong Wei, Lin Dan into last four
* Top-seeded Chinese woman Wang Shixian beaten
* British pair make semis By Dave Thompson
LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Big guns Lee Chong Wei and Lin
Dan marched into the
semi-finals of the world championships on Friday but top seed
Wang Shixian tumbled out of the women's event.
Her defeat came at the hands of colourful Taiwanese Cheng
Shao Chieh, something of a walking fashion statement.
There was joy for an excited crowd at the Wembley Arena when
the unseeded sole British survivors Chris Adcock and Imogen
Bankier reached the last four of the mixed doubles.
China's Wang, the All England champion, lost 21-16 21-17 to
effervescent Cheng, the ex-world junior champion who turned in a
high-class display to dispose of the tournament favourite.
A tiring Wang was yellow-carded at 7-7 in the second game
for taking too long towelling and from 11-11 the
energetic Cheng moved up the gears.
A series of fine winners were accompanied each time by a
scream and trademark punch of the air with her left arm.
Noted for her cropped, dyed blonde hair, the tiny
25-year-old also sports an arm tattoo bearing her name, a
necklace and white broad watch.
Cheng, world bronze medallist back in 2005, told reporters:
"Maybe, I'm stronger and more mature now."
Disappointed Wang said: "I need to go back and study her
previous games more and maybe come back with a bit better idea
of my tactics against her."
Cheng now faces German's Juliane Schenk who handed Denmark's
Tine Baun a heavy 21-9 21-11 defeat.
Baun, a semi-finalist in 2010, told reporters: "I made too
many mistakes today and she played perfectly. But it was mostly
my own mistakes she gained confidence by me playing stupid."
In the men's singles, Malaysia's Chong Wei ended the
brilliant run of Guatemala's Kevin Cordon, beating him 21-7
21-13 in 25 minutes.
Cordon, who had beaten China's fifth seed Chen Long in a big
opening round upset, took a 3-0 lead in the first game but that
was as good as it got for the world-ranked 34.
Chong Wei, chasing his first world title, will now face
defending champion Chen Jin who battled past unseeded Dane
Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 21-17 21-13.
They were joined in the last four by three-times former
champion Lin Dan of China and number three seed Peter Gade of
Denmark.
Home interest was kept burning when England's Adcock and
Scotland's Bankier beat the Chinese fourth-seeds Tao Jiaming and
Qing Tian 21-16 21-18.
Adcock said: "The feeling that went through me at the end
was like nothing I had experienced before. It makes everything
worth it.
"I hope we can put badminton back on the radar.
Everything can be done and nothing is impossible."
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