The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Lin Dan in semifinals

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Lin Dan in semifinals

BIRMINGHAM: Top-seeded Lin Dan led a Chinese trio into the men’s semifinals of the All-England Open badminton championships on Friday, all winning their matches in two games.

In women’s singles, third-seeded Lu Lan beat No. 5 Chen Wang of Hong Kong 21-18, 21-13.

Lin secured his place in the semifinals with a 21-17, 21-11 win over fifth-seeded Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark and next faces teammate Bao Chunlai in a repeat of their 2006 World championship final which Lin won.

“I’m happy with my performance. My match went smoothly even though Jonassen is a very good player,” Lin said.

Third-seeded Bao ended Europe’s hopes when he beat unseeded Dane Joachim Persson 21-11, 21-13.

In the bottom half of the draw, No. 4 Chen Jin toppled sixth-seeded Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia 21-14, 21-12 while No. 2 Lee Chong Wei defeated Kuncoro’s teammate, Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, 23-21, 21-17.

China’s last hope in the women’s singles rest with Lu, who now faces Chinese-born German Xu Huaiwen, who knocked out Japan’s Yu Hirayama 18-21, 21-18, 21-16.

Tine Rasmussen of Denmark needed 56 minutes to advance, beating No. 6 Chinese-born Frenchwoman Pi Hongyan 20-22, 21-18, 21-18.

Her semifinal opponent will be South Korean Hwang Hye-youn, who beat China Open winner Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia 17-21, 21-10, 21-13.

The results:

Singles: Semifinals: Men: Lin Dan bt Kenneth Jonassen 21-7, 21-11; Bao Chunlai bt Joachim Persson 21-11, 21-13; Lee Chong Wei bt Taufik Hidayat 23-21, 21-17; Chen Jin bt Sony Dwi Kuncoro 21-14, 21-12.

Singles: Semifinals: Women: Tine Rasmussen bt Pi Hongyan 20-22, 21-18, 21-18; Lu Lan bt Wang Chen 21-18, 21-13; Hwang Hye Youn bt Wong Mew Choo 17-21, 21-10, 21-13; Xu Huaiwen bt Yu Hirayama 18-21, 21-8, 21-16. — Agencies

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