Fuzhou: China’s Chen Yufei picked up an impressive 11-21, 21-15, 21-13 win over World Champion Carolina Marin of Spain in the China Open semi-final, halting her two-match losing streak against the Spaniard on Saturday.
After levelled at 8-8, Marin showed why she was one of the finest female badminton players in the world with a dominant 21-11 first set victory.
Chen, however, upped the tempo at the start of the second set, immediately breaking Marin to claim the second set 21-15.
The Chinese shuttler ramped up pressure on Marin in the decider, was leading 11-6 at the interval before beating Marin for the first time in their third career encounter.
The No. 4 seed Chen will play No. 7 seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the final.
Okuhara on the other hand, silenced the home crowd by winning the semi-final match over No. 8 seed He Bingjiao of China 21-13, 21-13.
Meanwhile, mixed doubles world champions Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong of China eased past compatriots He Jiting/Du Yue 21-12, 21-12 in just 25 minutes to set up an all-Chinese final with No. 2 seeds Wang Yilyu/Huang Dongping on Sunday.
Wang/Huang showed no mercy in the semi-final as they trashed 2018 All England champions Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino 21-14, 21-6 in the last four.
Japan’s Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara will play Korean pair Lee So Hee/Shin Seung Chan for the women’s doubles crown on Sunday.
