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China guaranteed gold in women's Olympics badminton
2008-08-15
BEIJING, (AFP) - Powerhouse China are guaranteed gold and silver in the Olympic women's badminton tournament after the last challenger, Indonesia's Maria Kristin Yulianti, was eliminated on Friday. World number one Xie Xingfang will take on Olympic defending champion Zhang Ning in Saturday's clash of the titans as China keep their campaign for a clean sweep of all golds at this tournament on track. Zhang fought off Indonesia's unseeded Yulianti for a 21-15, 21-15 victory, the veteran of the Chinese team celebrating by throwing her racquet in the air and running to the stands to receive a bouquet of flowers from her husband. Yulianti, who has been the surprise of this tournament, fought hard but was ultimately outclassed by the 33-year-old Athens gold medallist. Xie, a two-time world champion, showed why she is the top seed in her semi-final against teammate Lu Lan, staging a gritty comeback against the 21-year-old rising star to win 7-21, 21-10, 21-12. Xie -- favourite to clinch a golden double for China with boyfriend and fellow world number one Lin Dan -- said she and Lu have played so many times together in training that there were no surprises during the match. Lu said she couldn't keep up with the Chinese champion whose furious pace only seemed to increase as the match wore on. "She (Xie) performed better and better throughout the match. I just couldn't keep up. She lost the first game, but she adapted a strategy to move the shuttle around the court more and sped up after that," Lu said. Lu raced to a one game lead with a series of deceptive drop shots against a seemingly sluggish Xie. But Xie, playing in her first Olympics after she was left out of the team for Athens, came out firing in the second, racing to a 10-5 lead and gaining in confidence against a wilting Lu whose earlier form deserted her. Lu steadied in the third, taking a 4-0 lead before Xie levelled at 6-6 and then powered ahead, winning the match with a lob to the baseline.
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