Mulheim: World No. 5 Lin Dan will face Chou Tien Chen in a German Open final for the first time on Sunday at Mulheim, Germany.
The two time Olympic Champion Lin Dan held off the challenge from Son Wan Ho of Korea, winning 21-12, 21-13 to reach the German Open final on Saturday.
In other men’s singles semifinal, No. 4 seed Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan breezed to the final by pulling off upset, overcoming the stubborn No. 1 seed Jan Jorgensen of Denmark with 16-21, 21-14, 21-17 win in 63 minutes.
South Korean men’s doubles World No. 1 pair of Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong will play for their first international title of 2016 after dismissing third-seeded Hiroyuki Endo/Kenichi Hayakawa of Japan 21-19, 21-14 in the semifinals at German Open. The top seeds will take on compatriots Ko Sung Hyun/Shin Baek Cheol in the finals.
Ko Sung Hyun/Shin Baek Cheol had to dig deep to progress to the finals on Saturday as they came from one set down to trounce Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov of Russia 21-18, 18-21, 23-21.
In the women’s singles semi-finals, both No. 2 seed Li Xuerui and No. 4 seed Wang Shixian were made to struggle in order to progress to the finals in arguably the toughest fashion possible. Li Xuerui was taken to a three-set thriller before she emerged victorious 15-21, 21-13, 21-13 against No. 5 seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan.
Wang Shixian was also made to sweat as a resilient No. 6 seed Akane Yamaguchi refused to concede defeat. That was until the third set when Wang decided to up her game, claiming victory 21-13, 19-21, 21-19 in 72 minutes.
Indonesia’s Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii, the highest ranked women’s doubles duo, couldn’t continue their run at German Open as they were halted by unseeded Puttita Supajirakul/Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand, losing 21-16, 22-24, 19-21 in 75 minutes.
Puttita Supajirakul/Sapsiree Taerattanachai will play another unseeded pair Huang Yaqiong/Tang Jinhua of China in the finals. Huang/Tang stunned second seeds Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi 21-9, 19-21, 21-18 in the semi-finals on Saturday.
It is also worth noting that men’s doubles partners Ko Sung Hyun and Shin Baek Cheol will find themselves playing on the opposite side of the net in the mixed doubles final as No.1 seeds Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na will compete against compatriots No. 5 seeds Shin Baek Cheol/Chae Yoo Jung for the mixed doubles title on Sunday.
