Hirose outlasted Bulgarian Petya Nedelcheva 21-15, 22-20 to become the first Japanese woman to reach the final since 1979.
"We wanted to bring some good news back home," she told reporters, acutely conscious of the scenes back home after a devastating earthquake and tsunami on Friday.
However, Hirose couldn’t get the better of World number one Wang Shixian of China to bow out 24-22, 21-18 in the final.
Fujii and Kakiiwa beat fellow Japanese Shizuka Matsuo and Mami Naito 21-19, 21-17 to become the first women's doubles pair in the final since 1991, and will now meet the third seeded Chinese pairing of Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang.
(Published 13 March 2011, 17:30 IST)
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