Top seeds see shock exit from Denmark Open
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E-mail Xinhua, October 21, 2012
Chinese top seeds in the men's and women's singles and doubles draws saw shock exits from the semifinal round of the ongoing Denmark Open 2012 badminton tournament, in Odense on Saturday.
Women's singles top seed Wang Yihan of China, who earlier won silver medal at the London Olympics, lost in two sets to third seed Saina Nehwal of India, who won bronze at the summer games.
It took just 30 minutes of play before Wang retired owing to pains in her right knee, for which she also received medical supervision during the match. The Chinese player had already lost the first set 21-12, and decided to withdraw when Nehwal was leading 12-7 in the second set.
Nehwal will play Sunday's final versus the sixth-seeded German Juliane Schenk, who beat eighth seed Jiang Yanjiao of China in three sets, winning 13-21, 21-14, 21-15.
Meanwhile, the men's singles saw seventh seed Du Pengyu of China convincingly beat his second seed compatriot Chen Long 21-14, 21-10, in a 38-minute encounter. However, Du faces the toughest of opponents in the final when he squares off against top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, the world's number one ranked player.
Earlier Saturday, London Olympics silver medalist Lee overcame unseeded Dane Jan Oe. Joergensen in a close-fought, two-set match, winning 22-20, 21-15.
There was more misery for the Danes in the men's doubles semifinals, when top seeds Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen lost to third-seeded Malaysian pair Kien Keat Koo and Boon Heong Tan in three sets.
Boe and Mogensen went up 21-19 in the first set, before losing focus to drop the second set 21-11, where the Malaysian duo made a rapid comeback. The Danes displayed better rhythm and concentration in the thrilling third set, which they lost 26-24.
Koo and Tan face unseeded South Korean pair Baek Choel Shin and Yeon Seong Yoo in the final, after the latter overcame unseeded Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia 21-17, 21-15.
The upsets continued in the women's doubles, where Japan's sixth seeded Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi beat top seeds, and Olympic gold medalists, Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei of China, 21-15, 13-21, 21-10, in a marathon match lasting 67 minutes.
In the other semifinal, Chinese duo Ma Jin and Tang Jinhua defeated countrymen and tournament third seeds Bao Yixin and Zhong Qianxin 21-15, 21-19, to set up a Japan-China final on Sunday.
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