samedi 13 août 2011

UPDATE 1-Badminton-Dream final on, home duo thrill crowd

* Lin Dan sets up clash with old rival                                                                   
* Gade beaten in three-set marathon                                                                  
* British pair thrill Wembley crowd                                                                   
By Dave Thompson                                                                    
LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - China's Lin Dan survived a big
fright before claiming his place in Sunday's world badminton
championship final where he will meet old foe and arch-rival Lee
Chong Wei.


                                                                   
In an exhausting 75-minute tussle with third seed Peter Gade
of Denmark on Saturday, Lin battled to a 22-24 21-7 21-15
victory to stay in the hunt for a fourth world title.

                                                                   
World number one Chong Wei earlier claimed his place with an
impressive 21-13 21-9 win over holder Chen Jin of China.

                                                                   
On an exciting day, the Wembley Arena crowd were thrilled by
locals Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier who reached the mixed
doubles final to huge acclaim.

                                                                   
Disappointed Gade, 34, told reporters after his latest
defeat by Olympic champion Lin: "I knew it was going to be hard
work out there.

                                                                   
"I played the way I can play in the first game and I am
proud of that. I just couldn't keep it up in the second and the
third.

                                                                   
"I wish I could have made it a bit different at 15-15 in the
third but I wasn't able to do that and, of course, it's also to
his credit that he was playing with a lot of discipline in the
end and that makes it difficult."

                                                                   
Lin, who holds a 15-8 head-to-head advantage over Malaysia's
Chong Wei, said: "I was worried a bit in that third game... but
I then thought about it and played well."  

                                                                   
Earlier, the crowd cheered the latest exploits of the
unseeded Adcock and Bankier who swept aside second-seeded
Indonesians Tantowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir 21-16 21-19.

                                                                   
Scot Bankier lay on the ground overcome by joy while her
English partner raced round the hall to the delight of all.

                                                                   
It was their third victory this week over seeds and
confirmed the world number 18 pairing as a genuine force.

                                                                   
Adcock said: "Today I think I was playing with the best
women's mixed doubles player in the world. She tore Natsir up
and made my job so easy."

                                                                   
The duo will now try to emulate British compatriots Nathan
Robertson and Gail Emms who won gold in 2006 in Madrid.

                                                                   
The women's final will be between second seed Wang Yihan,
who beat Chinese compatriot Wang Xin 21-14 21-15, and colourful
Taiwanese seventh seed Cheng Shao Chieh who overwhelmed
Germany's Juliane Schenk 21-18 21-6.

                                                                   
Cheng has never beaten Wang in three attempts but the bubbly
25-year-old said: "There's always a first time for everything."

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