Defending champion He Bingjiao into badminton Japan Open final

TOKYO, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) - China's defending champion He Bingjiao advanced to the final of Japan Open women's singles after defeating her teammate Chen Yufei 2-0 in the semifinal on Saturday.

Born in 1997, He Bingjiao is fighting for her second Japan Open title after winning the women's singles in 2016. She will face Rio Olympics gold medalist Carolina Marin in Sunday's final.

"Marin is an excellent player. She is always relentless, no matter in good or bad conditions...She is very good at attacking. I will try to do my best in defense on Sunday," said He.

In mixed doubles, the Chinese pair Wang Yilv and Huang Dongping reached the final after defeating Indonesia's Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto 2-0.

Wang and Huang lost to the same Indonesian pair in last week's Korea Open. Wang said that they changed their strategy this time to win.

They will encounter Japanese pair Takuro Hoki and Sayaka Hirota in Sunday's final. "The Japanese have home advantage. We are prepared for a difficult game," said Wang.

Earlier in the day, China's Shi Yuqi, ranked fourth in the world, was defeated by Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei.

Lee, who earned silver medals at the past three Olympics, is moving to get his seventh Japan Open title. In Sunday's final, Lee will face Denmark's world champion Viktor Axelsen.

The 2017 Japan Open takes place at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan from Sept.19 - 24, 2017. It has a total purse of 325,000 U.S. dollars.