The 33-year-old came through her first three-set match in the women's singles semi-final against Ji Hyun Sung of South Korea 24-22, 19-21, 21-19 in a superb display of stamina and quality. The two-time All England Open winner admitted she never thought her final tournament would end this way but is completely ruling out postponing her retirement further. "The main focus for me is enjoyment, no matter what. This has been an adventure I didn't know was going to happen," said Baun. "I've gone into every match enjoying it and as though it might be my last one. "I've gained confidence throughout the tournament and I've been playing really good rallies all over. I'm so excited about the result.
"I've definitely achieved what I came to do, but I didn't expect to go into the final. Of course you have a dream of going to the final, but I didn't expect it. "There's no part of me thinking I will delay retirement and carry on. I'm still retiring." Second seed and Indian superstar Saina Nehwal failed to make the final after she was beaten by Thailand's Inthanon Ratchanok. The Thai player, seeded eighth, had comfortable passage beating the Olympic bronze medallist 21-15, 21-19 for her first ever final with Baun next up. Meanwhile, Baun's compatriot Jan O Jorgensen failed to make it a Danish double after he was beaten 21-19, 22-20 in a tight men's singles semi-final by Chinese second seed Chen Long. Qualifier Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk's adventure came to an end, but not without a fight as he pushed Lee Chong Wei in the first set, eventually losing 22-20. However, the Malaysian favourite and number one seed stepped up in the second, proving his class to dismiss the Thai player, ranked 37 in the world, and win the set 21-8. And Wei admitted he was delighted to see so many of his compatriots in the crowd at what he described as an already special tournament. "I know there are a lot of students coming from Manchester, Newcastle and London from all that way," he said. "In the final I hope I can play well and I can win the title for my country and all my fans here in England." In the men's doubles as Xiaolong Liu and Zihan Qiu booked their place the final with a win over eighth seeds Mohammed Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan from Indonesia with a 21-12, 13-21, 21-17 win. They will face Japan's Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa, who beat Thailand's Maneepong Jongjit and Nipitphon Puangpuapech 22-20, 21-15. Top seeds Xiaoli Wang and Yang Yu, from China, beat Japan's Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna 21-11, 21-16 to book their place in the women's doubles final. They will face compatriots and qualifiers Shu Cheng and Yunlei Zhao after they defeated fifth seeds and compatriots Jin Ma and Jinhua Tang 21-18, 21-7. Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir booked their place in the mixed doubles final at the expense of compatriots Markis Kido and Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth 18-21, 21-15, 21-19, but were denied a second all-Indonesian clash. They will instead face China's Nan Zhang and Yunlei Zhao, seeded fifth, who beat Muhammad Rijal and Debby Susanto 21-17, 21-16. © Sportsbeat 2013
