Lin cruises to semis at Asian Championships

QINGDAO, China (AFP) –

Lin Dan of China returns a shuttlecock against Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand during their match at the Badminton Asia Championships in China’s northeastern city of Qingdao. Lin cruised into the quarter-finals of the Asian Championships with an impressive win over Boonsak 21-15, 21-10.

China’s Lin Dan cruised into the quarter-finals of the Asian Championships on Friday with an impressive win over Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana 21-15, 21-10.

“Super Dan”, the top seed, took just 39 minutes to breeze past the Thai and looked in good form as he continues on his quest to win a second Olympic title at the upcoming London Games.

The 29-year-old four-time world champion, five-time All England winner and reigning Asian champion will meet compatriot and third seed Chen Jin in Saturday’s semi-final after he beat Hong Kong’s Hu Yun 21-10, 21-14.

The other semi-final, between fifth seed Du Pengyu and second seed Chen Long, is also an all-Chinese affair, meaning China are guaranteed the men’s title.

“Now the men’s singles’ title belongs to China, so we are relaxed,” said Chen Jin, according to state news agency Xinhua.

The women’s semi-finals will also feature only Chinese shuttlers in what is one of the last major tournaments before the Olympics. The host country also had strong showings in the doubles draw.

Although Lin and China’s reigning world women’s singles champion Wang Yihan, who also secured a semi-final spot, have already qualified for the Olympics, other players are competing for valuable qualification points for London.