World Championships: Lin Dan romps into quarterfinals

Guangzhou - Badminton star Lin Dan of China outclassed Malaysia’s Chong Wei Feng 22-10, 21-10 to enter the men’s singles quarterfinals at the badminton World championships here today.

Olympic champion Lin will have a a possible quarterfinal encounter against teammate Chen Long if the second seed beats another Malaysian, Daren Liew, in the third round later Thursday, reports Xinhua.

Lin, who has not been made to work hard in the first two rounds, met tough resistance from his 15th seeded opponent in the opening set as Chong surged to a 7-2 lead.

Chong used his court-craft to move the shuttle to all four corners, while Lin, who has just returned after a year on the sidelines, failed to quickly find his form. However, the more experienced Lin steadied himself afterwards and eventually took the first set 22-20 after Chong saved two set points.

Although the first set could have gone either way, once Lin had pulled away at the end of it, the Chinese four-time world champion quickly went on to establish a 7-2 lead in the second and Chong was never able to pull it back.

“Although I skipped numerous international tournaments, I could still compete with any opponents, but I will not care about titles, just focus on the match,” said Lin.

Lin dropped to No.100 in the world rankings during his break and entered the tournament with a wild card.