Beijing Olympic gold medallist Lin Dan battled past Park Sung-hwan in the quarter-finals of the Japan Open yesterday, avenging his loss to the South Korean at last month’s world championships.
The Chinese fifth seed, who crashed out to Park in the Paris worlds, beat the unseeded South Korean 22-20, 21-16 in Tokyo.
In the semi-finals today, Lin will play two-time Japan Open champion Peter Gade of Denmark, who eliminated Tien Minh Nguyen of Vietnam 21-13, 21-13.
PHOTO: REUTERS
World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia coasted to a 21-10, 21-10 win over defending champion Bao Chunlai of China and now plays Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand, winner over China’s Chen Long 21-16, 17-21, 21-12.
Lin came back from a game-point down in the first, firing sudden attacks twice in a row to lead 21-20, before taking the game with an overhead drop shot.
Lin jumped ahead 6-0 in the second game, but a series of errors saw him slip to 6-6 and then 10-10, before pulling away and finishing off the 55-minute battle with an unstoppable jump smash.
In the women’s competition, Wang Xin was made to work hard before beating Japan’s Eriko Hirose 21-14, 18-21, 21-10 for a showdown against Tine Baun of Denmark, winner over Sung Ji-hyun of South Korea 21-11, 21-18.
The other semi-final match will be an all-Chinese affair between Jiang Yanjiao, winner over Lu Lan 21-17, 21-15, and Wang Shixian, who defeated Japan’s Shizuka Uchida 21-11, 16-21, 21-13.
There was good news for Taiwan in the women’s doubles quarter-finals as top seeds Cheng Wen-hsing and Chien Yu-chin beat No. 7 seeds Kim Min-jung and Lee Hyo-jung of South Korea 19-21, 21-14, 21-16.
Cheng tasted more success in the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles, where she teamed up with compatriot Chen Hung-ling to defeat Indonesian duo Fran Kurniawan Teng and Pia Zebadiah Bernadet 21-17, 21-17.
additional reporting by staff writer
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