World No. 4 Chen Jin of China moved into the final of the Asian Badminton Championships yesterday with an upset 21-13, 21-14 win over compatriot and world No. 1 Lin Dan in only 23 minutes. Chen needed only to reach the final of the competition to seal a place in the Beijing Olympics.
It is the last tournament for players to collect qualification points ahead of the Games.
Even if world No. 5 Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark wins the individual title in the ongoing European Championships in Denmark, the Dane will not be able to dislodge Chen from fourth spot.
PHOTO: AP
Chen will now join world No. 1 Lin and world No. 3 Bao Chunlai at the summer Games.
A country can have a maximum of three players if all of them are ranked within the top four in the world standings.
The crowd had packed the Johor Bahru Indoor Stadium, expecting a thriller between the two greats from China. But were disappointed by the lackluster performance of the two players.
Chen, however, denied that the match was a fix.
“It was a normal game between Lin Dan and me. We know each other’s play quite well,” Chen said. “Lin Dan is injured and that is probably why he could not give his best. But I am happy to have secured a place in the Olympics. Yes, I know the crowd was booing but I was not bothered at all. I didn’t care what was happening as I was concentrating on my game.”
In today’s final, Chen will be up against seventh seed Park Sung-hwan of South Korea who beat fifth seed Sony Dwi Kuncoro in a thriller. He recovered from a one set deficit to win 14-21, 21-16, 21-19.
Park, ranked 10 in the world, was also taken to three sets in his quarter-final match against Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana.
“I knew that in order for Chen Jin to go to the final, Lin Dan had to lose. He had an easy match, while I had a tough one. But, I am ready to face Chen Jin. I am in good physical shape and feel confident,” Park said.
Park played Chen once before in the 2006 Asian Games and lost.
In the women’s singles semi-final matches it was a bad day for Hong Kong when top seed Wang Chen and third seed Yip Pui-yin lost their respective matches. Wang Chen was beaten 17-21, 16-21 by defending champion Jiang Yanjiao of China, while unseeded Wang Lin of China upset Yip 21-14, 21-18.
In the women’s doubles Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen of China defeated Vita Marissa and Liliyana of South Korea 21-10, 21-16.
In today’s final they will face Taiwan’s Cheng Wen-hsin and Yu Chin-chien, who beat Lee Hyo-jung and Lee Kyung-won of South Korea 21-18, 21-5.
In the mixed doubles the news was not so good for Taiwan. Flandy Limpele and Vita Marissa of Indonesia defeated Fang Chieh-min and Cheng Wen-hsin of Taiwan 21-17, 21-15 in their semi-final.
The Indonesians will face compatriots Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir, who defeated He Hanbin and Yu Yang of China 21-14, 21-17.
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