First Badminton gold at stake (Photo credit: Xinhua)

The first Badminton gold will be up for grabs in the Women's Doubles competition on Friday, August 15 at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium. Women's Singles, Men's Singles and Men's Doubles semifinals will also be contested.

Battling it out for the first Badminton gold are second seeds Du Jing and Yu Yang of China, and fourth seeds Lee Hyo-jung and Lee Kyung-won of the Republic of Korea. Lee Kyung-won finished a respectable third place at the Athens Games with her former partner Ra Kyung-ming,.

The bronze medal match will be fought between third-seeded Wei Yili and Zhang Yawen of China, and Japanese duo Maeda Miyuki and Suetsuna Satoko, who upset China's defending champions Zhang Jiewen and Yang Wei in the quarterfinals.

In Men's Singles, World No. 1 Lin Dan of China it set to clash with his compatriot, fourth seed Chen Jin, for a spot in the finals. Malaysia's gold hopeful Lee Chong-wei will take on Lee Hyun-il of the ROK, the unseeded player who ousted third seed Bao Chunlai of China in the quarterfinals.

Women's Singles World No. 1 player (and Lin's girlfriend) Xie Xingfang heads into a semifinal match against compatriot Lu Lan, who is ranked second in the world. Defending Olympic champion Zhang Ning, also from China, seeks a double crown and will try to outplay Maria Kristin Yulianti of Indonesia to advance to the finals.

Both Men's Doubles semifinal matches will witness two seeded pairs taking on two unseeded pairs. World No. 1 Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan will compete with Danish duo Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen, who shut out the tournament's third seeds in the first round. China's second seeds Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng will play Lee Jae-jin and Hwang Ji-man of the ROK, the first-round stunners of the fourth seeds.