Europe's last hopes of salvaging anything from the World Badminton Championships were sunk on Saturday when Denmark's Peter Gade lost in the men's semifinal and compatriot Tine Baun was beaten in the women's event.
Another Chinese bonanza is in the offing after fourth seed Chen Jin came from behind to beat Gade 19-21 21-8 21-11 and Baun lost to seventh seed Lin Wang 21-11 21-8.
Gade, 33, a world finalist in 2001, got off to a flying start but Chen, beaten finalist in 2009, battled his way back and in the end was fully in control.
The Dane saved three match points to no avail as Chen clinched his place in the final on Sunday when he will meet former world champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia or South Korean 13th seed Park Sung-hwan.
Chen has expressed his wish to oust Lin Dan as China's No. 1 and on Saturday's form he could achieve his goal. Tenacious in defence and with an impressive armoury in attack, he looked very much a world champion in the making.
Gade refused to accept Chinese dominance as a fixture, saying younger players were ready to take up the challenge and he himself was far from finished.
{{/usCountry}}Gade refused to accept Chinese dominance as a fixture, saying younger players were ready to take up the challenge and he himself was far from finished.
{{/usCountry}}"It's not easy but if I didn't believe it's possible I would not be here," Gade said.
China are assured of gold in the women's singles after Baun's defeat as the second semi-final later on Saturday is an all-Chinese affair between third seed Wang Xin and Wang Shixian, seeded six.
Baun, twice an All England champion, was clearly hampered by an elbow injury which had been building up during the week and she was below her best against Lin.
Like the women’s singles, Sunday’s mixed doubles final will be an all-China battle and gold in both the men’s and women’s doubles is perfectly possible.