China Secures Women's Singles Title At Badminton Asia Championships

Fellow Chinese Li Shifeng: China secured the women's singles gold with its four shuttlers sweeping semifinal spots at the Badminton Asia Championships on Friday.

He Bingjiao, seeded fifth, claimed a tough victory over top seed An Se-young of South Korea 21-17, 21-18.

"She played very well. She was so confident today that I didn't think I could beat her," admitted An.

"I had lost to her seven times in a row before this match, so I prepared a lot for today's competition. I was very patient on the court and tried to make fewer mistakes. That's why I could win," commented He.

He will next take on compatriot Wang Zhiyi, who fought from one game down to beat Japan's Aya Ohori 15-21, 21-12, 21-11.

The other women's singles semifinal will pit Olympic champion Chen Yufei against Han Yue. Second seed Chen outlasted Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 21-16, 21-19, while Han stormed to a victory over Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in straight games.

Men's singles top seed Shi Yuqi of China clinched a straight-game win against Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn. Fellow Chinese Li Shifeng overwhelmed defending champion Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia 21-9, 21-10.

In the men's doubles, China's Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi booked a berth for the Paris Olympics despite their 21-14, 21-15 loss to fourth seeds Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia.

The Chinese pair's qualification was confirmed after Lee Yang/Wang Chi-lin of Chinese Taipei went down to Malaysia's Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin 19-21, 21-19, 21-19.

In the women's doubles, Chinese duo Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan survived an intense battle to beat Rena Miyaura/Ayako Sakuramoto of Japan 21-10, 18-21, 21-19.