Malaysian badminton ace Lee Chong Wei on Saturday cruised into the final of the Indonesian Open, but women's world number one Carolina Marin suffered a shock defeat. Lee beat Indonesian opponent Ihsan Maulana Mustofa with ease, winning the semi-final 21-9, 21-18 in 39 minutes despite the home player having strong support from the loudly cheering crowd.
Despite the loss, unseeded Mustofa said he was happy that he made it to the semi-final of the tournament, which is seen as a warm-up for the Rio Olympics in August. "I can learn much from playing against a great player like Lee Chong Wei," he said.
Lee, seeded second in the open, is on course for his sixth Indonesian Open crown. He will face fifth seed Jan O Jorgensen in Sunday's final, after the Dane beat China's Tian Houwei, 21-14 18-21 21-17.
The number one and three seeds - Chinese players Chen Long and Lin Dan - went out earlier in the tournament. But there was a major upset as Spaniard Marin, the number one seed in the women's singles, lost in a tough showdown against fourth seed Wang Yihan from China in their semi-final.
'Nervous'
Marin won the first set with relative ease but nerves got the better of her in the second, and she went on to lose 16-21, 21-11, 21-17. "I'm disappointed," Marin told reporters after the match. "I started really good and I was very focused on what I have to do in the game, but in the second set I was nervous."
Wang will face unseeded Taiwanese star Tai Tzu-ying in the finals. More than 7,000 badminton fans were watching the competition at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.
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