Badminton great Lin Dan eased into the All England Open semi-finals by dispatching former Olympic and world champion Taufik Hidayat 21-18, 21-8 on Friday.
Defending champions Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and Wang Shixian of China also advanced. Meanwhile, women’s world champion Wang Yihan survived four match points to beat old rival Tine Baun of Denmark 19-21, 25-23, 21-9 in 65 minutes. Wang Shixian and Wang Yihan meet for a place in the final.
Hidayat, twice a runner-up in the world’s oldest badminton tournament that Lin has won four times, could not reproduce his form of the previous day when he ousted 2008 champ Chen Jin.
Photo: AFP
Lin stayed on top of a tight first game until 17-17, when Hidayat netted twice. Another shuttle into the net by Hidayat conceded the 27-minute game, and when Lin reeled off a 9-0 lead to start the second, all tension drained from the quarter-final.
After his ninth straight win over Hidayat since losing to the Indonesian star in the 2005 world championships final, Lin believed he was close to his best form.
“I focused more on this match than my first two and I think my form is improving bit by bit,” Lin said.
The top-ranked Lee, seeking a third successive All England crown, routed Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka of Indonesia 21-9, 21-11 in 27 minutes.
Next up will be the eighth-ranked Lee Hyun-il, who accounted for Malaysian qualifier Daren Liew 21-15, 21-13. Lee Hyun-il lost to Lee Chong Wei just last month in Thomas Cup qualifying.
Kenichi Tago of Japan, the 2010 finalist, downed No. 3 Chen Long of China in a 76-minute spectacle 22-24, 21-12, 21-14. The duo are always involved in scraps and Tago dominated this one. He missed three game points on serve in the first game, then allowed Chen no chance to get close with superb footwork and placement in the last two games.
On the women’s side, Wang Yihan showed why she’s No. 1 when she saved four match points against No. 5 Baun, three of them on unreturnable smashes in the second game. Baun made an error on the last at 23-22 and Wang Yihan evened the game score when Baun flicked long. Baun did not recover in the third game, committing a blizzard of errors. Wang Yihan beat Baun in the 2009 final and Baun repaid in kind in the 2010 final.
Wang Yihan leads No. 3 Wang Shixian 3-2 in matchups, but they have not met in 14 months.
Wang Shixian disposed of Chinese teammate and No. 6 Jiang Yanjiao 21-18, 21-10.
Li Xuerui, the next great Chinese player who moved up to a career-high No. 5 ranking on Thursday, eliminated No. 4 Saina Nehwal of India 21-13, 23-21 to reach her first All England semi-finals at her second attempt. Li handled Nehwal from the start and only Nehwal’s desperation at the end, when she missed a game point, forced Li to need four match points to finish her off.
Li will face another rising star in Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan, who beat the only other unseeded quarter-finalist, Sung Ji-hyun of South Korea, 20-22, 21-14, 21-14. The Chinese hold no fear for Tai, who has come on in the past nine months with wins over Wang Yihan and No. 2 Wang Xin. It will be Tai’s first appearance in the All England semis, as well.
Meanwhile, Japanese pair Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Noriyasu Hirata defeated Taiwan’s Fang Chieh-min and Lee Sheng-mu 21-15, 17-21, 21-12 to advance to the men’s doubles semi-finals.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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