BWF World Championships 2011: Adcock and Bankier Set For Medal

Several nations saw their chances of a medal in London disappear today, but for some unlikely partnerships their dreams continue into the semi final stage. The first top seed also fell today in the women’s singles but the other four top seeds are guaranteed a medal at this years world championships.
Lee Chong Wei ended the run of the Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon in ruthless fashion to set up a semi final against the current world champion Chen Jin, who defeated Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Vittinghus to reach the last 4. The other semi final is a potential classic as Lin Dan avenged his defeat to Sho Sasaki in two games whilst Peter Gade took 82 minutes to defeat the 7th seeded Tien Minh Nguyen to reach the last 4, but the Dane looked clearly exhausted at several points throughout the match, and has spent almost 3 hours on court in the previous two days to reach the semi final.
Wang Shixian crashed out of the world championships in tame fashion to the 7th seeded Cheng Shao Chieh of Chinese Taipei to devoid the top half of the draw of any Chinese involvement. Tine Baun also crashed out to the on-form Juliane Schenk in very poor fashion, losing to the 9th seeded Schenk 21-9, 21-11 in just 30 minutes. The other semi final is an all-Chinese clash with Wang Xin taking on Wang Yihan, with the higher seed Wang Yihan winning their previous 4 encounters. Wang Xin’s victory came against the 6th seeded Saina Nehwal whilst Wang Yihan ended France’s involvement this year with her two game win over Pi Hongyan.
The anticipated semi final clash between Cai and Fu against Lee and Jung will take place tomorrow, with both pairs coming through their matches in two games to set up their 15th meeting for a place in the world championship final. The other semi final also has Korean interest with the 5th seeded Ko and Yoo defeating the Commonwealth champions Koo and Tan in two games in the opening
match on the TV court this morning. Their opponents are the 7th seeded Ahsan and Septano who defeated the Danish 2nd seeds of Boe and Mogensen in three games, taking the deciding game 24-22 to progress.
Wang and Yu are safely into the semi final stage with another two game victory over Naito and Matsuo and will take on another Japanese pairing in the semi finals in the shape of Maeda and Suetsuna who defeated Indonesia’s Jauhari and Polii in two games to reach the last 4. The other semi final sees the 5th seeded Tian and Zhao taking on the unseeded pair of Gutta and Ponnappa, with the Indian’s defeating the 12th seeded Marissa and Melati of Indonesia in three games to guarantee India a world championship medal.
Adcock and Bankier’s incredible continues into the weekend after their two game victory over the 4th seeded Tian and Jiaming, with Adcock sprinting off court in celebration after Jiaming served into the net at match point down. They have their toughest test in the semi final in the 2nd seeded Indonesian pair of Ahmad and Natsir, who defeated the 5th seeded Danish pair of Fischer Neilsen and Pedersen in two games. The other semi final sees the top seeded Zhang and Zhao take on the 6th seeded Xu and Ma in an all-Chinese semi final. Zhang and Zhao defeated the 7th seeded Chen and Cheng of Chinese Taipei in two games whilst the 6th seeded Xu and Ma beat the unseeded Singapore pairing of Triyachart and Yao in two games also.