Chen Long into world badminton final, China secures 2 golds

Chen Long, seeded 2nd at the 2014 Badminton World Championships, will face top seed Lee Chong Wei in the final after the Chinese eliminated Indonesian player Tommy Sugiarto on Saturday.

The semifinal between Chen and Sugiarto, seeded 5th, was quite nervy as Chen trailed early in both sets but finally got the upper hand, winning 21-16, 22-20.

Chen said it was a tough match, which lasted 71 minutes, but he was patient enough although his counterpart was rather aggressive on the court.

In the other semifinal earlier on Saturday, world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia secured his seat in the final after beating home player Viktor Axelsen in two straight sets.

Lee, who is seeking for his first world title as his long-time rival Lin Dan skipped the championships, snatched a one-sided victory of 21-9 and 21-7 at Ballerup Super Arena.

Lee said Sunday's final would be "a tough game" if it proved to be Chen on the other side of the net, but he said he would try his best.

Earlier, Chinese Li Xuerui romped into the women's final with a 21-8, 21-14 victory over Japanese Minatsu Mitani, setting up a championship clash with Spain's Carolina Marin, who advanced by beating Indian Sindhu P. V. 21-17, 21-15.

China has secured the women's and mixed doubles titles.

Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang downed Reika Kakiiwa and Miyuki Maeda from Japan 21-8, 21-13 on Saturday and will take on fellow Chinese Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei, the 21-13, 21-10 winners over South Korea's Hee Lee and Seung Chan, in the women's doubles final.

Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei defeated teammates Liu Cheng and Bao Yixin 21-15, 21-13 and Xu Chen and Ma Jin overcame host pair Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen 21-15, 21-9, making the mixed doubles final a Chinese affair.

In the men's doubles final, Yong Dae Lee and Yeon Seong Yoo will confront fellow South Koreans Sung Hyun Ko and Baek Choel Shin.