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Yulianti Flies Indonesian Flag
Indonesia's Maria Kristin Yulianti stands as the sole non-Chinese in the last four of the women's singles badminton competition of the Olympic Games in Beijing.
| The unseeded Yulianti defeated India's Saina Nehwal 26-28, 21-14, 21-15 in a gruelling 64-minute struggle to reach the semi-finals, where she will face third seed and defending champion Zhang Ning of China. Zhang also had a tough quarter-final, defeating France's Pi Hongyan 21-8, 19-21, 21-19 to take her place in the last four. In the top half of the draw, there will be an all-China semi-final tussle with world number one and top seed Xie Xingfang taking on compatriot and third-seed Lu Lan. Wang needed two long games to beat Germany's Xu Huaiwen, seeded seventh, 21-19, 22-20 in 53 minutes. Lu ended the hopes of Malaysia's eighth seed Wong Mew Choo with a 21-7, 29-27 victory. The two semi-finals will be played on Friday. In the men's doubles, top seeds Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan reached the semi-finals by beating Malaysia's former All England champions Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong 21-16, 21-18. China also kept their gold medal hopes alive in the men's doubles when the second-seeded pair of Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng advanced to the semi-finals in confident fashion. The duo easily disposed of Americans Howard Bach and Bob Malaythong, needing just 29 minutes to register a 21-9, 21-10 victory. Their semi-final opponents on Friday will be South Korea's Lee Jae-jin and Hwang Ji-man, who claimed the scalps of Japan's Keita Masuda and Tadashi Ohtsuka. European hopes rest with Denmark's Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen, who now face the Indonesians. They made to the last four at the expense of Poland's Michal Logosz and Robert Mateusiak, scoring a 17-21, 21-11, 21-15 victory in just under an hour. The women's doubles final will be between China and South Korea on Friday. Korea's Lee Hyo-jung and Lee Kyung-won, the fourth seeds, ended the giant-killing run of Japan's Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna, enjoying a 22-20, 21-15 victory in one hour. Their opponents are the second-seeded pair of Du Jing and Yu Yang, who overcame their third-seeded compatriots Wei Yili and Zhang Yawen 21-19, 21-12. |
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