Dream final, India edit

Jorgensen went his match with a 0-4 record against Long but he did nearly everything correctly on Saturday. His first game was poor as he made a number of errors while Long was near perfect defensively. But the Dane turned things around in the second.

While Long played true to type — that of a defensive machine — Jorgensen took the challenge and rallied with the Chinese. He played patiently, waited for his chances and when given the chance, attacked to make the most of it.

How that gameplan fared depended on how good Jorgensen’s defense would be. Indeed, it was outstanding as he retrieved a number of Long’s smashes. His own winners found the lines. The lead kept changing hands and when Jorgensen appeared to be out at 18-14 down, he found a wind to take six points in a row. The coach in his corner tapped his chest to motivate Long but it was Jorgensen who took the game after forcing an error from his opponent over the course of another rally.

When it went down to the wire, it was the little moments of indecision that cost Jorgensen. Twice he left shuttles expecting them to fall out. The first was early in the game, but the second, which put Long 16-13 up, would have been devastating. On that occasion, Jorgensen had caught Long out of position and as the shuttle lobbed weakly overhead, had most of the court to aim his smash at. Instead, the Dane chose to let it fall, and the court’s drift carried it well within the sideline.

That the Chinese had been pushed to the limit was in any doubt, At the end of the point, Long sank to his knees and then pumped his fists repeatedly and in slow motion. And while matches usually end with opponents politely shaking hands over the net, Long unexpectedly crossed over to clasp the Dane in a bearhug. When asked what his plans for the final would be, Long smiled and said his only plans were to get some rest.

Long’s opponent will be World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei, who beat Du Pengyu of China 21-17, 19-21 21-15.  At an hour and 12 minutes long, the Malaysian’s match lasted nearly as long as Long and Jorgensen’s, but it didn’t have to. Chong Wei was leading by a game and 8-1 and appeared to be toying at times with his opponent. But Chong Wei appeared to lose focus as he hit a number of shots into the net or wide of the sidelines. Pengyu capitalised with some exceptional net play to force the decider. However Chong Wei got his game back to improve 12-1 against the Chinese.

Strong Opponent

Chong Wei will surely not be as complacent against Long. The two have an 8-8 record against each other and although the Malaysian took their last encounter, at last months’ All England championships, Long had won the previous four matches.

Long’s entry to the final means that China has a contender in all but the mixed doubles event. The team is assured a win in the women’s singles with Shixian Wang facing compatriot Li Xuerui. An all-China final had been assured at the start of Saturday itself as all the semifinal contenders had been Chinese.

Shixian had beaten Olympic silver medalist Yihan Wang 15-21 21-7 22-20 in just under an hour while Olympic gold medalist Xuerui had a far simpler time in beating qualifier Liu Xin 21-12 21-13. That China won’t have a representitive in the mixed doubles is due to the Danish pair of Christinna Pedersen and Joachim Fischer Nielson who ousted the reigning Olympic champions Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei  14-21 21-6 21-18.

The Danes meet another surprise pair in Korea’s Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na who upset three time India Open winners  Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia 22-20 21-18.