Top seed Lin edges Gade to reach world final
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-08-21 16:54

ANAHEIM, California, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Top seed Lin Dan reached the final of the world badminton championships on Saturday with a hard fought victory over Dane Peter Gade.

World number one Lin Dan of China hits a shot to Peter Gade of Denmark during his win in the semi-finals of the IBF World Badminton Championships in Anaheim, California, August 20, 2005. Lin won 15-9 13-15 15-11. [Reuters]

The Chinese player beat third seed Gade 15-9 13-15 15-11 to reach the final where he will face the Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat, the reigning Olympic champion.

The matched turned on a controversial fault call on Gade's serve at 11-12 in the decisive game.

"I fought the best I could on the court today. I wish I had a made a different choice on the long serve then I think I would have won," Gade told reporters.

"I think he played better than he did the other times he played me," Gade added.

Gade hasn't beaten Lin since 2002 and has now lost to the world's top player on seven consecutive occasions.

Lin, who had dropped a game in each of his last three matches, was subdued after his win, attributing his mood to the length of the match.

Hidayat, the number six seed, powered past Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei 15-3 15-12 in the other semi-final.

The Indonesian said he learnt from watching Lee's quarter-final win over Bao Chunlai on Friday.

"Today I was able to use what I saw from his game, his mistakes and his weaknesses, in order to achieve what I had to do," Hidayat told reporters.

In the women's event, top seed Zhang Ning of China defeated number six Xu Huaiwen of Germany 11-7 11-9 to secure a place in the final against her compatriot Xie Xingfang or Cheng Shao-Chieh of Taiwan.

China also had success in the mixed doubles when Xie Zhongbo and Zhang Yawen beat New Zealand's Daniel Shirley and Sara Runesten-Petersen 15-8 15-8.

Xie and Zhang will meet Indonesia's Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir in the final on Sunday.

The number four seeds beat Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thungthongkam of Thailand 15-9 3-15 15-10 in the second semi-final.

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