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Chinese Chen Hong Wins 3-Game Thriller to Reach Mens' Final
World number 12 Chen Hong of China fought back from one set down to defeat Muhammad Roslin Hashim of Malaysia in a marathon match to reach the men's finals of the All England badminton championships in Birmingham on Saturday.
Chen, the only Chinese survivor in the last four, dropped the first set 10-15 but pulled it even despite trailing 11-14 in the second, winning 17-16 and forcing it to a third-set decider.
The 22-year-old led all the way to 8-3 but saw his advantage evaporate as Hashim, ranked sixth in the world, made it 10-10 and went ahead 12-10 by forcing Chen to errors once and again.
But Chen, cheered by hundreds of local Chinese, regained his concentration to score five points in a row to win the set 15-12 and the thrilling match after 115 minutes.
"I was too exhausted to jump or attack when leading 10-7," Chen said. "But trailing 10-12, I had to try my best because I could not let the last chance slip."
Chen said that the matches with Hashim were always very difficult. "In the six matches between us, five of them were decided after three sets. I won five of them," Chen said.
Li Yongbo, head coach of Chinese national team, spoke high of the Chinese youngster. "His performance today was fantastic in such a difficult match playing with a player as good as Hashim. Considering his age, I believe the win can boost his confidence and encourage him to win more big matches in the future. "
Chen admitted that he is at the same level as Olympic champion Ji Xinpeng and last year's All England champion Xia Xuanze though he is not so well-known in the world arena as his two teammates.
"That's because I failed to qualify for the Sydney Olympics. I was not in a good form in the qualifying matches," said Chen, who joined the star-studded national team in 1997 from Fujian province, southeast China.
Chen, who was eliminated in the quarterfinals in his previous three all England appearances, will fight for the title on Sunday with India's Pullela Gopichand, a surprise winner over world number one Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark 17-14, 17-15 in the day's other semifinal.
"I played with him for several times and neither was dominant," Chen said of the final. "I think we have an equal chance tomorrow."
The women's singles and doubles finals will be both played between Chinese players, with defending champion Gong Zhichao meeting Zhou Mi in the singles and Wei Yili/Zhang Jiewen taking on Gao Ling/Huang Shui in the doubles.
Gong, also Olympic gold winner, eliminated fellow Chinese Gong Ruina 11-6, 11-2 to reach the finals while Zhou saw off Dai Yun 11- 1, 11-3 in the other all-Chinese semi.
Gao/Huang won the final berth by beating compatriots Chen Lin/ Jiang Xuelian 15-3, 15-9 and Wei/Zhang breezed past Japanese pair Seiko Yamada/Shizuka Yamamoto.
Olympic mixed doubles champion Zhang Jun/Gao Ling also entered finals after beating Denmark's Jens Eriksen/Mette Schjoldager 15-6, 15-8 and set up a final clash with another Dane pair Michael Sogaard/Rikke Olsen, a 15-5. 15-12 winner over Simon Archer/Gail Emms of England.
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