Lin, Xie lead all Chinese finals<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Tokyo<\/p>\n
World number ones Lin Dan and his girlfriend Xie Xingfang
\npaved their way through to the all-Chinese men's and women's
\nsingles finals at the Japan Open badminton tournament on
\nSaturday.<\/p>\n
Lin breezed past last European hope Kenneth Jonassen of
\nDenmark 17-14, 15-10 to set up the men's final against Chen Hong,
\nthe winner over Athens Olympic gold medalist Taufik Hidayat of
\nIndonesia 15-9, 15-5.<\/p>\n
Xie, who took the top ranking announced on Thursday after
\nwinning six tournaments in a row including the most prestigious
\nAll England, stretched her singles match winning streak to 34 by
\nbeating Pi Hongyan of France 11-7, 11-5.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Xie will take on Athens Olympic and world champion
\nZhang Ning, who struggled to beat Wang Chen of China 11-6, 6-11,
\n13-11.<\/p>\n
\"I played with Pi Hongyan so many times and we know each other
\nvery well. I was able to control the game pretty well today. I
\nthink I did everything what I wanted to do today,\" said Xie after
\nthe 33-minute match.<\/p>\n
Xie explained that her play became steady as she has worked
\nhard after she was dropped out of the national team for the
\nOlympics, and it brought her the number one ranking.<\/p>\n
\"Of course, I'm glad to become the world number one, but I
\nwant to compete in a big event like the Olympics, the world
\nchampionships, the Uber Cup and the Sudirman Cup as the number
\none player,\" said Xie, 24.<\/p>\n
And Xie expects Zhang to be the most likely player to stop her
\nmatch winning streak.<\/p>\n
\"There are a lot of good players who are at the same level as
\nme, and I think Zhang Ning has the highest possibility to beat me
\namong them all,\" said Xie.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Zhang said she could not play at her best because
\nshe had trouble against the winds caused by the air conditioner
\nand the lights over the court.<\/p>\n
\"I've played in Japan many times before, but it is difficult
\nto control the shuttle, because the winds are irregular. It is
\ndifferent every year,\" said veteran Zhang, 29.<\/p>\n
For the final against Xie, Zhang said: \"She has more strength
\nand is speedier than me, we play a similar attacking game, and
\nshe is younger. That's why she's been winning recently.\"<\/p>\n
\"I must change the rhythm and tactics if I can beat her
\ntomorrow,\" Zhang said.<\/p>\n
Both the men's and women's final are a re-match of the All
\nEngland finals where Xie and Chen ended on the winning side.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/lin-xie-lead-all-chinese-finals-1447893297",
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