BIRMINGHAM, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Yu Yang/Wang Xiaoli and Cheng Shu/Zhao Yunlei beat their respective rivals at the All-England Open here on Saturday to set up an all-Chinese final and secure the women's doubles title for their country in advance.
Yu and Wang, world No.1 seed, faced Japan's Maeda Miyuki and Suetsuna Satoko for the fifth time. In their previous encounters, the Chinese pair enjoy a 4-0 victory record.
Yu and Wang looked dominant on the court from the beginning with smooth cooperation and sharp attacks, winning the first game with an emphatic 21-11.
They recovered from 0-2 down in the second game to pull away from their tenacious opponents by maneuvering the shuttle to all four corners of the court. Their 21-16 victory didn't seem really difficult.
Both Yu and Wang were satisfied with their performances. "We are getting better and better," Yu said to Xinhua. "With the progression of the All England Open, the opponents are getting stronger and we slowed down. We haven't competed for a while and the match today helped us find our form."
Before flying to Birmingham, Yu had said she wish to meet her teammates in the final and bring back both gold and silver for the Chinese team, who have won the women's doubles title 11 times in the last 12 years. Now her dream came true.
Yu and Wang started to pair up from 2009 and won almost all major events in 2011. But their brilliant career was overshadowed as they were disqualified from the London Olympics last August for match-throwing along with three other pairs from South Korea and Indonesia.
In retrospect, Yu said, "the unhappy memories belong to the past, but we chose to stay on the court any way. We are at a new starting point and will keep working for a better result."
Meanwhile, Chinese veteran pair Chen Shu and Zhao Yunlei beat their teammates Ma Jin and Tang Jinhua 21-18 and 21-7. They will be fighting Yu and Wang on Sunday.