Badminton All England 2010: Malaysian Lee Chong Wei reaches final and aims for history

Lee Chong Wei's dream of becoming only the second Malaysian in 44 years to win the men's singles title at the All England Open moved impressively closer with a brilliantly taken semi-final win.

The top-seeded Olympic silver medallist beat Denmark's Peter Gade, the former All England Badminton champion in 1999, 21-17, 21-14, to earn his second successive final at Britain's national indoor arena.

In the final, Lee will play unheralded Japanese contender Kenichi Tago who confounded the odds to beat Bao Chunlai 18-21 22-20 21-18. Tago became the first Japanese to make the semi-finals in 40 years on Saturday and held off Lin Dan's conqueror to earn his place against the great Malaysian.

Even more impressive was that Lee was dominant from the moments when he turned an early 7-10 deficit into a small lead, gradually edging further away and taking control of more and more of the rallies.

The light-footed Lee did that by keeping the pace uncomfortably high for Gade, who had done superbly well to get past Taufik Hidayat, the former Olympic champion, in three very long games the night before.

That may have cost the brave Dane. Lee, light-footed, energetic, and superbly fit, hustled his 33-year-old opponent without relenting, and apparently without any distress.

"I had a better recovery than Peter," said Lee, referring to his own three-game quarter-final match, against Shon Wan Ho of Korea. "I always felt I had the extra edge."

Though the stats suggest Lee won a high percentage of his points with smashes, the damage was done with his punchy clears, sharp flicks from the front court, and well balanced tumblers at the net, all of which set up openings into which to hit the shuttle to the floor.

"I needed to make things happen on the court," said Gade. "Lee could do that and I can't at the moment."

Gade did, however, try to hang in hard, as he had so superbly against the odds against Hidayat, but the best he could do was haul a 8-13 second deficit back to 13-15. After that Lee accelerated away again.

The finish was brilliant. Lee got to match point with an edgy rally in which both men found net cords with tight little net shots, and closed it out with the shot of the match.

He got Gade in trouble in the forecourt, delayed his shot as though he were somehow slowing down time, and as his opponent placed his weight forward, flicked the shuttle diagonally over Gade's into the back forehand corner.

It made the large Malaysian contingent, which had almost made this feel like a home match for Lee, go wild.

It also gave the match a great finish, and the winner some great impetus to take into a final in which he hopes to make a bit of history.

Without his most frequent obstacle on big occasions, Lin Dan, the Olympic and World champion, the route to a big title for Lee seems much less hazardous.

"It's very important for Malaysia," said Lee, apparently unafraid to admit to the pressure. "I really want to win this title."

All England semi-finals

Men's singles

Kenichi Tago (JPN) bt Bai Chunlai (CHN x6) 18-21, 22-20, 21-18
Lee Chong Wei (MAS x1) bt Peter Gade (DEN x5) 21-17, 21-14

Women's singles

Wang Yihan (CHN x1) bt Wang Xin (CHN x5) 21-17, 26-24
Tine Rasmussen (DEN) bt Saina Nehwal (IND x7) 21-19, 21-17

Women's doubles

Du Jing/Yu Yang (CHN x1) bt Pan Pan/Tian Qing (CHN) 24-22, 21-10

Men's doubles

Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen (DEN x4) bt Guo Zhendong/Xu Chen (CHN x7) 21-16, 21-16
Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen (DEN) bt Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan (INA x3) 14-21, 21-13, 23-21

British mixed doubles pairings fall flat to Asian power

The dream all-English semi-final in mixed doubles, guaranteeing a British finalist for the first time since 2007, fell short at the All England Championships on Friday night.

Anthony Clark and Heather Olver couldn’t replicate their exploits of the previous two rounds with a tired display against Korean pair Lee Yong Dae and Lee Hyo Jung in the last eight while Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork fell in similar fashion against Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir, Indonesia’s No 2 seeds.

Expectations had hinged on the world No 24 pair - despite both pairings facing superior-ranked opponents - after Clark and Olver lost 21-19, 21-17 to the current Olympic mixed champions in a match they pretty much always chased. Robertson and Wallwork had their moments, too, but the Indonesians’ skill levels just proved too much in their 21-18, 21-19 victory.

The match had some edgy moments, not least with the Britons trailing 18-17 in the first game and an Indonesian lob seemingly having gone wide of the back court.

However the side umpire called it in, much to the chagrin of both home players. Television replays then confirmed that the shuttle had gone several inches over the line but the umpire, who endured a tough outing in the chair, still refused to overrule despite glimpsing at the big screen positioned directly in front of her.

The two-point gap proved pivotal but the Britons came back well in the second to open up a 10-8 lead with astute attacking play from Robertson and Wallwork’s ability at the net. But their advantage was soon overturned.

Robertson said: "There were a couple of bad calls but there was one each in the end.

"Sometimes it is hard to see how they get them so wrong, but they evened themselves out, as they usually do. We played well again but they are a quality pair.”

Earlier, Clark and Olver found themselves in a similar position as they quickly went 7-2 down. Their early plight wasn’t helped when Clark hit a backhand into Olver’s neck from a few feet away. Clark gave a shuddering jump on impact and even the umpire sounded a gasp picked up from his microphone.

To their credit they managed to haul themselves back level to 7-7 and took the lead 11-10 at the interval when a fast-paced net rally was won by Olver down the middle.

However, problems trying to get the shuttle over the net beset the British pair thereafter and they never got back into the match. They lost five points in a row to fall 19-15 behind and despite some tough interchanging points won by the Brits, the Koreans were happy to take the opener.

Kenichi Tago, the young Japanese contender, won a thriller against his Chinese opponent on the adjacent court at the start of the second game. How the Britons could have done with some Japanese spirit to stir up the home crowd. This looked an even taller order at 9-2 down and the pair on the defensive. There were few signs of Clark’s attacking prowess, too.

But the British pair - both pairings for that matter - can be proud of their displays this week. After all, this is only their second tournament together and without a world ranking.

Donna Kellogg, Clark’s former partner who retired in December, will be presented with a British Olympic Association award on Saturday, in recognition of her achievements within the sport. Clark took no time to signal Olver as the only replacement from England’s pool of young talent. He seems to have made the right choice.