Hot favorites China stormed into their seventh Sudirman Cup final after beating South Korea 3-0 at the world mixed team badminton championships on Saturday. It will clash with Indonesia in the final tonight.

Zheng Bo and Gao Ling set the five time champions on course by beating Han Sang-Hoon and Lee Hyo-Jung 21-17, 22-20 in the first rubber of mixed doubles.

Current world number one Zhang Ning made it 2-0 for China, thrashing Hwang Youn-Hye 21-14, 21-17 in women's singles. "In general, I'm pleased with my performance. But her points were gained on my mistakes," said Zhang after her game.

"Chinese women's singles players always shoulder big part of the pressure because people think we are strong and have no excuse to lose. But at the same, that's the motivation for me to play better game," she said.

In a crucial men's singles rubber, world champion Lin Dan capped the 3-0 victory with an impressive 21-11, 18-21, 21-14 win over Shon Seung-Mo although Shon posed a real threat to the world leading shuttler.

Meanwhile, Indonesia beat England 3-2 in the semi-final.

Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, the Indonesian sensation, was eager to play in the final, in which he probably meet his archrival Lin Dan. "I was nervous to watch my teammates playing. I'm here to play, not to watch," he said.

However, Lin Dan's place in the final was still in doubt due to his lackluster performance.

"I'm satisfied with the result and my players but not so satisfied with Lin's performance. He didn't give his best," Chinese head coach Li Yongbo told a press conference. "He needs to present more, otherwise he might not play in the final," Li said.

"Super Dan" has been out of form throughout the group stage. He lost to Asian champion Lee Chong Wei in straight sets on Thursday when China had been expected to present another whitewash in their final round-robin match against Malaysia.

(Xinhua News Agency June 17, 2007)