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China's shuttler Wang Shixian criticizes judges after semifinal win

Xinhua, March 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

China's Wang Shixian said here on Saturday that umpires and line judges at the All England Open badminton championships should be "fairer" to China's players.

The seventh seed fought back from one set down to beat Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei 21-23, 21-12, 21-15 to reach the finals. But she was not happy with several decisions made by the judges during the match.

"I was put a lot of pressure by the judges," she said. "I think they should be fairer to China's palyers."

But she admitted that she would not blame the judges if she had lost the match.

"You need to adjust yourself under any circumstances," the 26-year-old said.

Wang, the 2014 winner, was also critical of the match schedule, which made her match the first one starting at 12:10pm.

"It's very tough after finishing the match very late last night," she said. "But I could not believe I would be the first to play this afternoon."

Wang needed 76 minutes to edge teammate and third seed Li Xuerui in a three-set thriller on Friday, making a brave comeback from losing the first set and winning 16-21, 21-18, 21-17.

She will fight for the title against the winner between world champion and top seed Carolina Marin of Spain and Japan's eighth seed Nozomi Okuhara, which will be played later.

Wang is not the only Chinese player who was critical of the judges. Xue Song, a surprise semifinalist in the men's singles, said that European judges always make calls in the favor of European players.

"But I don't think I should be affected by their rulings as long as they don't make two consecutive mistakes," he said.

Five-time world champion and double Olympic titlist Lin Dan played down the judges' factors after Friday's defeat of Denmark's second seed Jan O Jorgensen.

"I think they are OK," he said. "I don't think they have made any mistakes on purpose."

But Lin, also a five-time All England champion, challenged the judges' decision for several times during the match.

"They (the judges) should do better to the Asian players," Lin said. "We worked really, really hard for this sport." Endit