Japan's Okuhara, China's Wang reach women's badminton superseries final

Nozomi Okuhara from Japan, world No. 4, beat world No. 1 Carolina Marin from Spain in the women's singles semi-final of the badminton's Dubai World Super Series 2015. 

   Okuhara defeated Marin 21-11, 21-12 in 53 minutes. She will play against China's Wang Yihan in the final in Dubai's Hamdan Sports Complex.

   Okuhara, 20, said she felt especially happy after this victory as she found her game following a long break due to a knee-injury.

   Twenty-two year old Marin cheered almost every point she did, while Okuhara remained self-controlled and refrained from showing too many emotions. 

   Marin expressed several protest to the referee due to distracting flashlights used by some spectators tribune when taking pictures with their smartphones. 

   Right-hand player Okuhara, only 1.55m tall, told Xinhua that her victory proves that height is not an important factor in a match.

   In the second semifinal late Saturday afternoon, Shanghai-born Wang won clearly against 20-year old Ratchanok Intanon from Thailand.

   Intanon, who became in 2013 the youngest world champion, played from the beginning a defensive match and tried to confuse Wang with sharp counter-attacks.

   Wang, who is at 1.78 meter, said she will give her best in the final.

   The women's singles final will take place on Sunday.  Endi