China occupies mixed doubles final at badminton worlds in Indonesia

Two final berths of the World Badminton Championship mixed doubles were grabbed by players from China here on Satruday.

The all-Chinese final was confirmed after China's No. 1 pair Zhang Nan/Bao Yunlei beat home country seeded pair Tantowi Ahmad/Lilyana Natsir and China's No. 4 pair defeated their compatriots Xu Chen/Ma Jin.

China's only hope in the women's singles was dimmed when Wang Yihan failed to get a semifinal berth after being trashed by Indian seeded player Saina Nehwal in a thrilling match held on Friday evening.

In the men's singles semis, China's No. 1 player Chen Long will meet Japan's Kento Momota who won the recent Indonesia Open championship in June.

In the men's doubles, China's ninth seeded Liu Xiaolong/Qiu Zihan will take on Japan's No. 6 pair Hiroyuki Endo/Kenichi Takagawa to for a final berth.

Besides the mixed doubles, hosts Indonesia has several players to vie in the semis scheduled later in the day.

The non-seeded Indonesian player Lindaweni Fanetri was scheduled to meet Indian No. 2 player Saina Nehwal in the women's singles.

In the women's doubles, No. 7 pair Nitya Khrisinda Maheswari/Greysia Polii will vie against China's No. 5 pair Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei.

Indonesian men's doubles pair Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan will meet defending champions from South Korea Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong in the semis.

In another men's singles semifinal, Malaysian star Lee Chong Wei takes on Jan O. Jorgensen from Denmark. The 32 year-old Lee took part in the tournament without seeding following the suspension period slapped by the BWF due to doping allegation. Endi