Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, a new partnership which does not even appear in the top 100 world rankings, sensationally joined the very few unseeded players to have won the All-England Open mixed doubles title on Sunday.
In only their third Super Series tournament together Zhang and Zhao completed their destruction of a stellar field by beating Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir, the second-seeded former world champions from Indonesia, 21-18, 23-25, 21-18.
Meanwhile, Kenichi Tago became the first Japanese player for nearly half a century to reach the men's singles final at the All-England championships on Saturday when he saved a match point to beat Bao Chunlai 18-21, 22-20, 21-17.
The 20-year-old's dynamic performance enabled him to climb back from a precipice in the second game, and to take charge of the third, ending China's men's singles challenge in the process.
Bao took a lead of 12-8 in the second game, kept threatening with his angular left-handed smashes, and reached match point at 20-19.
At that moment Tago had a slice of luck.
He could only manage a defensive flick lift, and Bao, looking to finish the match with a spectacular jump smash, put the shuttle wide.
Two points later, Bao faced game point against him, and this time the Chinese player allowed a defensive flick from Tago to drop, thinking it was floating out.
It landed on the line and the match changed character after that.
Tago shot into leads of 7-2 and 11-4 in the final game, and although Bao fought to reduce the deficit, and even got it back to two points it was clear by then that Tago thought he could win.
The results: Men: Semifinals: Kenichi Tago bt Bai Chunlai 18-21, 22-20, 21-18; Lee Chong Wei bt Peter Gade 21-17, 21-14.
Mixed doubles: Final: Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei bt Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir 21-18, 23-25, 21-18.
Women: Semifinals: Wang Yihan bt Wang Xin 21-17, 26-24.
