Madrid: China's Bao Chunlai clinched his place in his first world championship final with a confident 21-15 21-19 victory over Lee Hyun-il of South Korea in Madrid on Saturday.
Bao, who won last month's Korean Open and beat World number one Lee Chong Wei in the quarters, cruised through the first game thanks to his superior control at the net. He then kept his nerve to hold off a comeback by his opponent in the second and ensure an all-Chinese final in the men's singles.
World number two Lin Dan, silver medallist at last year's world championships in Anaheim, meets fellow countryman Chen Hong in the other semi-final.
"I enjoyed a psychological advantage over Lee because I beat him in the Korean Open and that made me more confident," Bao said. "I tried to stay relaxed and concentrated and mentally I was very well prepared. I would have been angry if I had lost this one but I'm delighted there will be an all-Chinese final now. Lee had three line calls that went against him. He kept his composure on the first two but got upset after the third and that worked to my advantage."
Chinese Power
Lee said he had been unnerved by the line calls, but admitted he was unable to match the Chinese player on the day.
"I was upset by the decisions of the match officials," he said. "Bao defended really well and forced me into a lot of errors. The Chinese are just too strong."
In the women's singles top seed and world number one Zhang Ning swept past Germany's Petra Overzier 21-19 21-11 and remains on course to regain the title she won in 2003.
World champion Xie Xingfang plays Xu Huaiwen of Germany in the other semi-final. In the mixed doubles an all-English final was guaranteed after Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms joined training partners Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg in Sunday's final.
Robertson and Emms needed six match points to edge a nail-biting contest against Thai pair Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam 21-18 17-21 25-23, while Clark and Kellogg overpowered Malaysian duo Koo Kien Keat and Wong Pei Tty 21-14 21-12.
The women's doubles final, which takes place later on Saturday, is an all-Chinese affair with top seeds Gao Ling and Huang Sui bidding for a third world title when they play Zhang Sui and Wei Yili.
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