Athens Olympics gold medalist Zhang Ning pulled out of the Beijing International Badminton Tournament on Saturday because of thigh injury.

 

The 32-year-old veteran, the top seed at the tournament, announced her exit in a medical report from the organizing committee that she strained her right thigh muscle and was forced to quit.

 

Zhang's withdrawal allowed her semifinal opponent and third-seeded Zhu Ling to advance to the final. Second seed Xie Xingfang will play sixth-seeded Zhu Jingjing in the other semifinal on Saturday evening.

 

The tournament, being held from October 10 to 14, is among the series of the test events for Beijing 2008 Olympics. On Sunday, the finals will be played on five events: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 13, 2007)