China's Olympic dominance in badminton will end in Rio

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) China's Olympic dominance in badminton will end in Rio de Janeiro. The nation swept all five gold medals at the 2012 London Games, but

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) China's Olympic dominance in badminton will end in Rio de Janeiro.

The nation swept all five gold medals at the 2012 London Games, but China's attempt to repeat that feat is over even before the gold medal rounds are set to begin Wednesday.

In a major upset on Tuesday, London silver medalist Wang Yihan lost to P.V. Sindhu of India in the quarterfinals.

In mixed doubles, Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia knocked out London silver medalists Xu Chen and Ma Jin of China. The Malaysians will play for gold against Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia, who beat Olympic champions Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei of China.

In a women's doubles semifinal match, Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark defeated Chinese pair Tang Yuanting and Yu Yang. They will play a Japanese team, Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi, in the final on Thursday.

China still has hopes for medals, however.

Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan defeated Chris Langridge and Marcus Ellis of Britain in the men's doubles semifinals. They will play for gold Friday against Tan Wee Kiong and Goh V. Shem of Malaysia, who beat Chinese team Hong Wei and Chai Biao.

In men's singles, many are watching top-ranked Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, who has lost the last two Olympic finals to two-time champion Lin Dan of China. If both continue winning, the rivals will play in the semifinals.

In women's singles, the favorites are top-ranked Carolina Marin of Spain and Li Xuerui, the defending Olympic champion from China. Both won easily Tuesday.