Lee and Chen to meet again in India Open final

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Press Trust of India New Delhi
Last Updated : Apr 05 2014 | 8:12 PM IST
World number one Lee Chong Wei today set up a summit clash with familiar foe China's Chen Long for the third time in the season, after both registered contrasting wins in the men's singles semifinals of the USD 250,000 Yonex Sunrise Metlife India Super Series here today.
Defending champion, Lee notched up a 21-17 19-21 21-14 win over China's seventh seed Du Pengyu in an hour and 12 minutes match at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.
Earlier, world number two Chen staved off determined fightback from fourth seed Jan O Jorgensen to prevail 21-15 21-23 21-19 in an edge-of-the-seat thriller that lasted for an hour and 19 minutes.
In an all-Chinese women's singles semifinals, All England champion and second seed Shixian Wang beat third seed and world number two Yihan 15-21 21-7 22-20 to set up a clash with top seed and world number one Li Xuerui, who thrashed qualifier Xin Liu 21-12 21-13.
In other finals, third seeds Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen of Denmark will meet fourth seeds Sung Hyun Ko and Ha Na Kim of Korea in mixed doubles, while second seeds Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen of Denmark will face third seeded Chinese combo of Xiaolong Liu and Zihan Qiu.
The Chinese pair of Yuanting Tang and Yang (F) Yu will meet Korean combo of Kyung Eun Jung and Ha Na Kim in women's doubles summit clash.
The men's singles final will be an interesting battle of supremacy between Lee and Chen -- two players who are tied with eight victories each in their last 16 meetings.
After two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan, it is Chen Long who has proved to be a formidable rival for Lee, who lost to his younger opponent four times in the last five meetings.
It was at the All England championship last month where the duo had met and Lee had the last laugh, avenging his 2013 final loss to Chen for his third title in Birmingham. They also met at Korea Open finals this season.
In the first men's semifinal, there was little to differentiate between Jorgensen and Chen but in the end it was the Chinese whose repertoire of strokes and steely focus helped him to resist the fightbacks by Jorgensen from 4-9 to 11-11 in the first-game and from 12-15 to 18-18 in the decider.
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First Published: Apr 05 2014 | 8:12 PM IST

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