Lin Dan recovered from a game down for the second day in succession to reach his first All-England final for four years on Saturday but women's world champion Carolina Marin was a shock casualty. Lin, the 32-year-old two-time Olympic champion, who hopes to win the sport's oldest title again as part of his bid to qualify for the Rio Games, came through 18-21, 21-15, 21-9 against his unseeded Chinese compatriot, Xue Song. For long periods, Lin unaccountably made little attempt to put the shuttle on the floor, and instead became involved in lengthy clearing and lifting rallies which extended the contest to fully 82 minutes. The day before Lin lost the first game to Jan Jorgensen, the fifth seeded Dane, but once his recovery had gathered momentum finished the match with brilliant combinations. "I don't know why I have lost the first games in these matches," said Lin. Lin, bidding for a sixth All England title, will face compatriot Tian Houwei, the eighth seed, who overcame surprise semifinalist, Hans Vittinghus, the unseeded Dane, by 15-21, 21-14, 21-14. Marin, the top-seeded titleholder and world champion, became the latest in a cull of all the favorites at the tournament when she was beaten in a long-drawn out and perhaps ominous semi-final encounter. The 22-year-old Spaniard was beaten 11-21, 21-16, 21-14 by Nozomi Okuhara, the hard-working, patient and consistent eighth-seeded Japanese player who gradually developed an effective pattern which, it became increasingly clear, would win her the match if she could maintain it. The cool and slow conditions may have made it hard for Marin to create real openings and to finish the rallies off, and the longer the match went on the more it became apparent that she was struggling. The outcome was not however as surprising as it may seem, as Okuhara also beat Marin while winning the Super Series finals title in Dubai in December, and has now beaten her three times in a row. Okuhara next plays Wang Shixian, another former All-England champion from China. Shixian, the conqueror of Olympic champion Li Xuerui, overcame Tai Tzu Ying, the former Super Series finals winner from Taiwan, 21-23, 21-12, 21-15. Lin Dan scored a notable revenge over Jan Jorgensen, the third-seeded Dane, to reach the semifinals with a 10-21, 21-9, 21-15 win Friday but Indian star Saina Nehwal was knocked out of the women's event. Xue Song, who played another fine match to cause an upset for the second successive day, overcoming Danish sixth seed Viktor Axelsen 21-19, 21-23, 21-11. Second-seeded Nehwal looked below her best during a 21-15, 21-6 loss to Tai Tzu Ying, the former Super Series finals winner, but this was not entirely surprising. Wang Shixian, the former All-England champion from China, beat compatriot Li Xuerui, the Olympic champion, 16-21, 21-18, 21-17. Marin overcame a jinx opponent, ending a sequence of four losses in four matches against Ratchanok Intanon. The top-seeded titleholder from Spain beat the former world champion from Thailand 21-27, 21-19. Okuhara, the Super Series finals winner from Japan, who heavily outplayed Wang Yihan, the former All-England champion, by 21-9, 21-13, ensuring there will be no all-Chinese women's singles final.
