Lin through to final after controversial call
A controversial net call helped Lin Dan into the men's singles final at the World Championships, the Chinese top seed defeating Danish hope Peter Gade in a nail-biting semi-final showdown.
Gade was furious after a gruelling one-hour 45-minute tussle at the Arrowhead Pond which ended in a 15-9, 13-15, 15-11 victory for world number one Lin, who will meet Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the final.
The flashpoint came in the decisive game, after Gade had rallied from 9-12 down to get to within a point of an increasingly jittery Lin at 11-12. But just when it looked as if Gade's momentum would carry him to victory, the Dane was faulted on serve.
The harsh call deflated Gade and Lin gathered himself to close out the match to the delight of his legions of fans in crowd of around 4,000.
'I think the only reason that he gave a fault was because he had a bad conscience about giving one to Lin in the previous game,' said a dejected Gade.
'It's really hard to accept because I could sense that Lin was starting to get nervous and making mistakes. I really do think that if I'd got to 12-12, I would have won because I don't think he's used to dealing with pressure,' Gade added.
Despite his bitter disappointment, Gade was gracious about Lin's performance. 'He really took his badminton to another level from what we have seen in the early rounds,' he said. 'He doesn't give you many opportunities. If they come, you have to take them.'
Lin meanwhile attempted to duck out of the post-match press conference before being ordered to attend by tournament officials.
'Even though I won I'm not happy because I shouldn't have lost the second game,' Lin said through a translator. 'I lost concentration when I was leading and that allowed him back into the match. I cannot afford to do that in the final,' added Lin.
Lin's gold medal match against Hidayat, the talented but temperamental right-hander known as the John McEnroe of badminton, has the makings of a classic. Hidayat, sporting a red wristband in aid of the Indian Ocean tsunami relief effort, downed Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei 15-3, 15-12 in his semi-final.
The Indonesian star, who has shared his two matches with Lin this year while overall head-to-heads between the pair are 2-2, is one game away from being the first player to hold Olympic, world, and Asian Games titles simultaneously.
'It would mean a lot to me to complete the set,' said Hidayat.
In the women's final, top seed Zhang Ning of China is favoured to retain her world crown when she plays compatriot Xie Xingfang.
Despite being bothered by the strong winds from the venue's air-conditioning, Zhang had too much firepower for sixth seed Xu Huaiwen, who was born in China but now represents Germany, winning her semi-final 11-7, 11-9.
In the other semi-final, Xie downed Taiwan's Cheng Shao-chieh 2-11, 11-5, 11-6.
