Olympic badminton champion Lin Dan beat world number one Lee Chong Wei in straight sets Saturday to set up an all-Chinese final at the Hong Kong Open. Lin, a four-time world champion, dominated the match, taking 46 minutes to beat his great rival 21-16, 21-14, and ending the Malaysian's record of reaching the final of every Open tournament he has played this year.
He will face fifth seed and compatriot Chen Jin who overcame second seed Chen Long 21-14, 21-18. Lee had been many people's favourite to win at the Hong Kong Coliseum following an indifferent recent run by Lin, who has again courted controversy by forfeiting matches against Chinese team-mates through injury or illness.
But Lee could not avenge his heart-breaking world final loss to Lin and in a match between the two dominant players of their generation, it was the Chinese shuttler who was once again on top. In August Lee let slip two match points as Lin, the sport's most decorated player, crawled off the canvas to claim his fourth world title in London. Lin also beat Lee in the finals of the 2008 Olympic and 2010 Asian Games. In the women's draw Denmark's Tine Baun overcame China's new world number one Wang Shixian 21-10, 19-21, 21-13, with the European champion smashing her way to victory. She will face Wang Xin in the final after the Chinese player beat compatriot Wang Yihan 21-12, 21-18.
In the men's doubles Chinese favourites Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng went through to the final on a walkover, where they will face South Korean second seeds Jung Jae-Sung and Lee Yong-Dae. In the women's doubles the two dominant pairings of the season will face off in an all-Chinese final after Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei beat Denmark's Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl 21-18, 21-13, while Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang won against South Korea's Ha Jung-Eun and Kim Min-Jung 21-18, 21-12. Out of 10 finalists, China boasts a total of seven.
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