Marin tops ailing Li to reach final
Print Edition
SPANISH world No. 1 Carolina Marin took a major step towards a first Olympic gold medal yesterday by beating defending champion Li Xuerui to progress to the final.
Marin’s defeat of Li piled further misery on China, which won a clean sweep of five badminton gold medals at London 2012, but can now only win two.
The 23-year-old Spaniard took the first game 21-14 and the second 21-16 as Li was hobbled following a fall. There was a delay in the proceedings as Li was checked by medical personnel and her coaches. Despite the pain in her leg, she gallantly continued the match.
Marin will play PV Sindhu in the final after the Indian defeated Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara 21-19, 21-10.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in the final but I feel emotional because I have worked so hard for this and I want to collect the reward tomorrow,” said Marin.
China’s shuttlers have struggled in Brazil after a formidable showing four years ago.
The Asian giant missed out on Olympic women’s doubles gold for the first time since the 1992 Barcelona Games when Tang Yuanting and Yu Yang lost in the semifinals on Tuesday.
It was a second blow to China in the space of 24 hours after both its pairs lost in the semifinals of the mixed doubles, which was eventually won by Indonesia.
Its final shots at glory come in the men’s singles and men’s doubles.
Double Olympic champion Lin Dan and Chen Long play in separate men’s semifinals today while Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan will compete in the men’s doubles final later in the day.
“Our team is strong and we’ve tried our best to perform well but now it’s really competitive. Every team from around the world is strong and powerful,” said Li following her loss to Marin.
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