Nehwal's run to the semi-finals raised a tidal wave of expectation in her home country. -Photo by AFP

LONDON: Top seed Wang Yihan deflated a nation of over a billion people when she thrashed India's strong title hope Saina Nehwal to set up an all-China final in the women's badminton singles on Friday.

Nehwal's run to the semi-finals raised a tidal wave of expectation in her home country and she admitted to suffering an attack of nerves as she crumbled 21-13 21-13, despite the overwhelming support of the Wembley Arena crowd.

China's involvement in a match-throwing scandal that saw eight athletes disqualified this week has overshadowed the tournament and the second women's semi-final between the team's second-seeded Wang Xin and third seed Li Xuerui was played in a strangely subdued atmosphere.

Li prevailed 22-20 21-18 to continue her stunning rise to the pinnacle of world badminton, having come from nowhere to win 30 straight matches in the leadup to the Games. The final will be played on Saturday.

Joachim Fischer and Christinna Pedersen won the mixed doubles bronze for Denmark, trouncing Indonesian pair Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir 21-12 21-12.

Opinion

Editorial

Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...
Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...