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Sports / China
Lin Dan advances, Zhang Ning out at Japan Open
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-14 17:14
TOKYO - World number one Lin Dan defeated sixth seed Peter Gade of
Denmark while his Chinese woman compatriot Zhang Ning was stopped from
entering the semi-finals at the Japan Open badminton tournament here on
Friday.
China's Lin Dan acknowledges the crowd after defeating Denmark's Peter
Gade during their men's singles quarter-finals match of the Japan Open
badminton tournament in Tokyo September 14, 2007. [Reuters]?
The two-time defending champion Lin, who has not lost since July, beat a
5-10 deficit in the second game to win 21-16, 21-19 over Gade.
However, on the women's side, world number one and two-time defending
champion Zhang Ning crashed out in the quarter-finals to Tine Rasmussen
of Denmark 21-13, 16-21, 21-18.
In his match against Gade, Lin took the first game at ease, but fell back
3-0 in the second against drops by the 30-year-old Dane who then saw his
lead disappear to 12-13, and then 16-17 down.
Lin unleashed a smash to reach match point at 20-19 and savored his win
after the Dane'forehand drive went wide.
In the semi-finals on Saturday, Lin will take on Commonwealth Games gold
medallist Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, the fourth seed who breezed past
fifth-seeded Chen Jin of China 21-7, 21-16.
Lin is on course for a probable final showdown against Athens Olympic
gold medallist Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, a winner over Park Sung-Hwan
of South Korea, 21-17, 21-18.
Zhang Ning, also the reigning Olympic gold medallist, blamed her own
erratic play for her loss to Rasmussen.
"In the first game, the wind was against me, so I hit the shuttle longer,
but it was unstable and often went out," she said. "I made too many
mistakes. That's why I lost."
Rasmussen has had an impressive tournament so far, beating three top
players, namely, 2006 European champion Xu Huaiwen of Germany, Asian
champion Jiang Yanjiao of China, and world No 1 Zhang.
In the semi-finals on Saturday, she will take on either world silver
medallist Wang Chen of Chinese Hong Kong or Lu Lan of China.
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