Denmark downed plucky Indonesia 3-1 on Saturday to reach the Sudirman Cup final, where they face holders and firm favourites China after they brushed aside South Korea by the same scoreline. Denmark, Europe's best badminton team who will make only their second ever final appearance, steamed ahead in the Chinese seaside city of Qingdao through their mixed doubles pairing of Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen.
Their talisman, the world number five Peter Gade, saw off Simon Santoso 21-18, 21-16 to put Denmark on the brink of the final - and leave an Indonesia team missing many of its best players staring elimination full in the face.
The Indonesians grabbed a point back in the men's doubles, but the Danes sealed a Sunday date with China - who are chasing their fourth world mixed team championships on the trot - thanks to Tine Baun. "It's a dream for all the players, the coaches and the Danish association to get to the final, it's a really big thing," said the 34-year-old Gade, who confirmed this would be his last Sudirman Cup.
"We have everything to win and nothing to lose in the final," he added. "The pressure is on China. They cannot lose to a small nation like Denmark, with old guys like me. So we are just going to enjoy it, fight for every rally, for every shuttle, and hope we can shake them." Earlier, China were simply too much for the Koreans.
South Korea made the perfect start in what was a repeat of the 2009 final. Their mixed doubles pairing of Ko Sung-Hyun and Ha Jung-Eun were behind for most of the first game of their match against Xu Chen and Ma Jin before they dug in to go up 23-21.
The Chinese duo hit back strongly, however, and went on to win the next games 21-14, 24-22 to put the hosts on their way in thrilling fashion. China, the world's dominant force in badminton for years, went 2-0 up after Lin Dan demolished the world number nine Park Sung-Hwan. South Korea pulled a point back through their world number two men's pairing of Jung Jae-Sung and Lee Yong-Dae.