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Lin Dan on course for badminton repeat
2005-03-11
BIRMINGHAM, England - Defending champion Lin Dan of China reached the semifinals of the All England Open when he beat South Korean Lee Hyun-il 15-10, 13-15, 18-8 in a 93-minute quarterfinal on Friday.Lin's girlfriend Xie Xingfang also booked a semifinal berth as China chased the women's singles title for the eighth time in nine years. The 21-year-old whizkid they call Super Dan, who last weekend won the German Open, is bidding to become the first man to win consecutive singles titles since former Olympic champion Poul-Erik Hoyer in 1995 and 1996 - and the Dane was commentating on the closing stages of the 2005 tournament. In the semifinals on Saturday, Lin will meet ninth-seeded Malaysian Wong Choong Hann, who came from behind to outplay Shoji Sato of Japan 11-15, 15-2, 15-3 in 65 minutes. The other semi will also be a China-Malaysia clash between fourth-seeded 2002 champion Chen Hong of China and seventh-seeded Lee Chong Wei. Chen overturned a first-game deficit to beat teammate and fifth-seeded Bao Chunlai 13-15, 15-12, 15-7 in 76 minutes. Lee had an easier time defeating teammate and 14th-seeded Muhammad Roslin Hashim 15-7 15-9 in 48 minutes. Third-seeded Xie Xingfang wasted no time reaching the last four of the women's singles when she zipped past South Korean Seo Yoon-hee 11-3, 11-3 in 24 minutes. But teammate Zhang Ning, the world champion and No. 1 seed, was only four minutes slower in beating South Korean Jun Hae-young 11-4, 11-2. Xie now meets Indonesian-born Dutch star Mia Audina Tjiptawan, the only European left in the singles, after the Olympic silver medallist put out Japan's Kaori Mori 11-8, 11-4. Zhang faces Eriko Hirose of Japan, who knocked out Germany's Chinese-born No. 1 Xu Huaiwen in straight games. In men's doubles, Olympic champion Ha Tae-kwon of South Korea remains in the hunt for his fourth men's doubles title, having won with Kang Kyun Jin in 1997 and the great Kim Dong Moon in 2000 and 2002. Ha and Yim Bang-eun, the sixth seeds, whipped top seeds and world No. 1s Jens Eriksen and Martin Lundgaard Hansen 15-11, 15-8 to add to Danish frustrations at this championships. England fans, who have ensured the semifinals and finals are a sellout as they follow the fortunes of their Olympic silver medallists Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms, were denied a mixed doubles gold medal final rematch with Zhang Jun and Gao Ling when the Chinese pair lost 15-10, 15-12 to Thailand's Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thungthongkam. AP
Badminton-Super Dan easing Olympic heartache (2005-03-12)China to dominate badminton finals day (2005-03-12)Lin Dan on course for badminton repeat (2005-03-11)12 (11285)
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