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Badminton: Marin books spot in finals for second year running
World number one Carolina Marin advanced to the finals of the women's singles at the world championships on Saturday for a second year in a row, after staging a gripping comeback against South Korea's Sung Ji-Hyun in Jakarta
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orld number one Carolina Marin advanced to the finals of the women's singles at the world championships on Saturday for a second year in a row, after staging a gripping comeback against South Korea's Sung Ji-Hyun in Jakarta.
The top seed and defending champion screamed as she emerged triumphant from the 90-minute battle over Sung 21-17, 15-21, 21-16.
Marin claimed the first game comfortably but lost her composure in the second, becoming increasingly frustrated as her unforced errors mounted and her lead slipped away.
She trailed Sung in the third game 13-8 before rallying to take 10 unanswered points in a fiery comeback that left her Korean opponent spinning.
Marin was overjoyed at earning the chance to defend her world title, but acknowledged she let herself down mentally.
"Today I was nervous and sometimes I was angry with myself because I wasn't thinking about what I had to do, I was thinking about the score," the 22-year-old European champion told reporters.
"That made me angrier with myself."
Sung said she was struggling with stamina after enduring an 82-minute quarter-final marathon against Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu the day before.
The Korean, who beat Marin in the final of the German Open in March, also took a few tumbles during the match, later complaining of cramping.
"At the end I tried to push myself and fight back," she said.
"I was disappointed I lost in the end."
Marin will seek to defend her title against the winner of another semi-final match scheduled later on Saturday between second-seeded Indian Saina Nehwal and sixth-seeded Chinese shuttler Wang Yihan.
In the men's singles, world number one Chen Long will challenge Japanese fourth seed Kento Momota for a spot in the finals later Saturday, while Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia will vie for a fourth-straight finals appearance when he plays Jan O.Jorgensen of Denmark.(+++)
