Number six seed Benjamin Li of Isle of Man won an epic semi-final match against Albert Navarro Comes of Menorca to reach the badminton men’s singles final today where he will meet Paul Le Tocq of Guernsey in Friday’s gold medal match.Li had to pull out all the stops to get past Navarro Comes, against whom he lost two years ago in the Island Games, as he trailed by six points in the deciding game, 10-4 and 13-7, before pulling level at 15-15 to set up a tense climax.Li led 16-15, 17-15 and then 20-16 before Navarro Comes pulled it back to 20-18 after Li put a shot into the net and then hit the next one long.However, his winning point was met with great relief as his team-mates — including women’s doubles finalists Cristen Callow and Kimberley Clague — rushed onto the court to hug him.An exhausted Li had to be helped into the dressing room where he pulled off a bloodied sock on his left foot.Li, the favourite to win the singles title, clearly had to pull out all the stops to get past the fourth seed Navarro Comes whose brother Eric, ranked fifth, went down to second seed Paul Le Tocq of Guernsey in the other semi-final. That match started after the Li-Comes match and finished earlier.“It was a massive team effort today with the cheering from the side and I couldn’t have done it without that,” said Li who just turned 20 last week. “The last time I played it (two years ago) it wasn’t even close so to win in this fashion was just amazing. I think I won something like ten points in a row (in final game). I left everything out on the court.“I didn’t think about winning or losing, just playing one point at a time. He played really well.”Li won’t have much time to rest as he is due to play doubles tomorrow.He has been thoroughly enjoying being here for the Games.“Bermuda has been an awesome place to have these Games, everyone is so enthusiastic, the taxi drivers, the people on the street. Everyone is so into it.”Le Tocq kept up his quest for a first singles gold medal in the Island Games with a 21-10, 21-9 win over Eric Navarro Comes in the other semi-final. He admitted Li will be a tougher nut to crack.“Ben Li is probably the man to beat,” said an out of breath Le Tocq after his semi-final win over Frederik Nielsen, the eighth seed, in the previous round.“But it’s one match and anything can happen, can’t it. It’s tough for everyone out there with the heat, especially coming from a colder climate. At this stage there are no easy matches. This is by far the friendliest Island Games I’ve been to, I’ve done four and the people here are outstanding people. They are the most friendly, most helpful people that we’ve ever come across.”The women’s doubles final will put Callow and Clague against the Djurhuus Carlsson sisters, Brynhild and Rannvé, of the Faroe Islands.Callow and Clague beat Anika Johnson and Gayle Lloyd of Guernsey 21-13, 21-6 while the Carlssons got by Sarah Garbutt and Elena Johnson, the top seeds, of Guernsey 21-15, 9-21, 21-16.In the previous round the Carlssons were comfortable winners over the Bermuda pair Rowena Cespedes and Loan Khahil 21-4, 21-6 while Callow and Clague beat Dianne Blais and Emma Callow of Bermuda 21-13, 21-6 in the quarter-finals.“We’re enjoying ourselves so much in Bermuda, the people and the tournament is very well organised,” said Brynhild, 22. “But it is hot, very hot. We did train in the heat back home and tried to reach up to 30 (Celsius) degrees. I think it is good competition.”Said Rannvé who is 18 and the top ranked women’s player in her country: “We thought we had a pretty good chance and we were after the final so we are really glad.”And for beating the number one seeds? “Bloody awesome I would say,” replied Brynhild, her country’s number two player. “We’ve been training a lot and have great expectations.”Second seeds Clague and Callow are looking forward to playing the Djurhuus Carlssons in Friday’s final.“We’re just taking it as it comes, but we’re both playing well and fingers crossed,” said Clague. They beat their opponents earlier in the week in the team event.Callow is nursing a hamstring injury that may keep her out of the singles which starts today. Winning gold in the doubles in the priority for now.“In these events the seeds are hard to get correct because it’s been two years since the last Games, you haven’t seen everyone playing and you really can’t compare them so there is always upsets according to seedings,” she said.“Literally you can get a pair that you’ve never seen before who can be amazing, you just have to take each game as it comes. It’s for the gold medal so it can go either way.”With some days to spare after the Games the pair plan to take in Bermuda’s sights this weekend.“Business first, then pleasure but we do want to see the pink sand,” said Clague.“It’s so pretty, we’re loving it, and everyone is so friendly. We can’t stress that enough.”