S. Korean badminton duo advances to final
South Korea's Lee Yong-dae celebrates after he and compatriot Yoo Yeon-seong cruised to the badminton men's doubles final after beating Malaysia in straight sets at the Gyeyang Gymnasium, Saturday.
The South Korean men's badminton duo of Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong cruised to the final of the Incheon Asian Games after beating Malaysia in straight sets on Saturday.
In the men's doubles semifinal held at Gyeyang Gymnasium in the northern part of this port city, the world's top-ranked shuttlers won against Goh Wei Shem and Tan Wee Kiong by the set score of 2-0 (21-6, 21-15).
Lee and Yoo will face the world No. 2 duo from Indonesia, Ahsan Mohammad and Setiwan Hendra in Sunday's final. In the other semifinal match on Saturday, the Indonesians defeated South Korea's Kim Sa-rang and Kim Gi-jung by 2-1 (19-21, 21-16, 21-18), preventing an all-South Korean showdown for the gold medal.
In an interview after the match, Olympic gold medalist Lee vowed to grab his first Asiad gold medal in the men's doubles event.
"I am sure of the victory if I do not make any mistakes," Lee said, adding that he will do his best at the final.
Lee, the country's biggest badminton star with an Olympic mixed doubles gold to his credit, only settled for bronze in the men's doubles at two previous Asian Games.
Bae Yeon-ju, meanwhile, grabbed the bronze in the women's singles event Saturday after a defeat against China's Wang Yihan by 1-2 (10-21, 21-12, 16-21).
It is South Korea's first Asiad medal in the women's singles since the 2006 Doha Asian Games.
Two South Korean teams in the mixed doubles event, however, failed to advance to the semifinal after losing to two Indonesia teams.
Indonesia's Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Nastir defeated Shin Baek-cheol and Chang Ye-na 2-1 (19-21, 21-16, 21-9). Then their compatriots Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto followed suit, beating Ko Sung-hyun and Kim Ha-na 2-1 (21-9, 9-21, 21-15).
Son Wan-ho also failed to go to the semifinal after a defeat against the world No.2 Chen Long of China in the men's singles.
In Incheon, Lee and Yoo already grabbed the gold medal in the men's badminton team event, after defeating China. The team competition involves three singles and two doubles matches.
A total of seven gold medals are up for grabs in badminton in Incheon.
Meanwhile, the South Korean women's volleyball team cruised to the semifinals after beating Hong Kong in straight sets on Saturday.
Without volleyball star Kim Yeon-koung in the lineup, South Korea pulled off a comfortable 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-11) victory over Hong Kong for the semifinal berth at Songnim Gymnasium. The country is eying its first Asiad title in 20 years. (Yonhap)