Tennis : Picture Mirza - plays Zheng Jie in the final.
India's Sania Mirza caused the biggest upset so far in the tennis competition at the 2006 Asian Games as she cruised to a comfortable straight-sets win over world number 21 Li Na on Tuesday to advance to the final.
Mirza, currently 66th in the WTA Tour rankings, dominated the match and knocked out the top seed by winning 6-2 6-2.
"It was a big match, one of the better matches I've played," said Mirza, who has yet to drop a set in the singles tournament.
Commenting on the tactics she used to defeat the 2006 Wimbledon quarter-finalist, the 20-year-old from Mumbai explained: "As I have seen her play before I knew I had to attack her strong forehand.
"The wind also forced me to change my play as we switched sides. I had to keep the momentum up in the second set because a player like Li can fight back at anytime."
Another Chinese opponent awaits Mirza in Wednesday's final after second seed Zheng Jie defeated third seed Aiko Nakamura in straight sets in the other semi-final.
The world number 33 saw off the challenge of her Japanese opponent, who is 24 places lower in the rankings, with a relatively straightforward 6-3 6-2 win.
"Today she (Zheng) was very good and my returns were too high and behind the baseline," said Nakamura, who like Li takes home a bronze medal.
(reopens) Top seed Lee Hyung-taik will take on Danai Udomchoke in the final of the men's singles tennis tournament after the world number 49 defeated Cecli Mamiit and the number three seed from Thailand edged Go Soeda.
The first set of Lee's semi-final clash went with serve until the 10th game, when he broke the Los Angeles-born Filipino before holding his own service to round out the 7-5 victory in just under an hour.
Lee took the second more convincingly as the 2002 Asian Games runner-up romped to a 6-0 win in just 22 minutes.
"During the first set my body was heavy and Mamiit didn't make a lot of errors, he was tenacious and aggressive," said Lee, who has already won gold in Doha after helping the Koreans to victory in the men's team event.
"I am a little tired but fortunately I won the second set relatively easily and I have a day off tomorrow (Wednesday) so I'll be able to prepare for the final."
Third seed Udomchoke earned the other final berth with victory over fifth-seeded Japanese player Soeda by two sets to one.
Udomchoke, who is carrying the hopes of Thailand after reigning Asian Games champion Paradorn Srichaphan withdrew because of a wrist injury, went into the semi-final with confidence having beaten him in his native Bangkok three weeks ago.
And his confidence was not misplaced as the world number 104 took the first set without dropping a game.
However, with Udomchoke suffering from a niggling leg injury, Soeda took the next set 6-2 but the Thai rallied, regrouped and ran out the winner by taking the decisive set by an identical score in just under half an hour.
"I felt a little pain in my leg and found it difficult to move but I called the trainer and I was able to build from the point," said the 25-year-old right-hander, who explained how he regained the initiative after the second set.
"I called the trainer to try and stop his momentum. That gave me three minutes to try and think about what was happening and how I could bring back my concentration."
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