Lin Dan, Chen Long set up quarterfinal clash at badminton worlds

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Lin Dan, Chen Long set up quarterfinal clash at badminton worlds

(Xinhua) 08:31, August 09, 2013

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Badminton superstar Lin Dan and promising talent Chen Long set up an all-China quarterfinal clash after both sailed past the third round of men's singles at the badminton world championships here on Thursday.

Olympic champion Lin outclassed Chong Wei Feng 22-10, 21-10, while Chen Long cruised past another Malaysian Daren Liew 21-18, 21-15 to enter the men's singles quarterfinals.

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

Chong moved the shuttle to all four corners, while Lin, who just returned after a year on the sidelines, failed to find his form quickly. 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 going to be able to pull that back.

Widely considered the most decorated shuttler of all time, Lin has won every major title available to an Asian, but he was dropped to No. 100 in the world rankings during his break and entered the tournament with a wild card.

Chen is obviously in the form of his life at the moment. Therefore the two Chinese shuttlers' encounter is highly anticipated.

Talking about Friday's match against Chen, Lin said: "the player who has a better mind set will win."

Meanwhile Chen admitted that Lin has a better control on the court though he runs less.

"Lin is the leading shuttler of the Chinese men's singles, I will spare no effort to catch up with him."

Top seed Lee Chong Wei, who is China's biggest threat to the sweep they are hunting, spent only 37 minutes dismantling the challenge of China's Wang Zhengming 21-12, 21-7.

The Malysian was in trouble against Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka in Wednesday's second round as the world No. 1 came from behind to win the match, but he was in sizzling form facing Wang.

Although 4-7 behind at the start, he slowly turned the match around and dominated to secure the victory.

Du Pengyu of China, who endured two three-set match in his first two rounds, had another testing battle, beating Takuma Ueda of Japan 21-19, 13-21, 21-7.

In the women's singles, reigning world champion Wang Yihan of China was knocked out by India's Sindhu P. V. in two straight sets. The second seed lost the first set 21-18, though she scored four points in a row after 17-20 in the second, Sindhu took the set 23-21.

"Today both of us played well, but I made some mistakes in some crucial points," said Wang.

Another Chinese duo Li Xuerui and Wang Shixian registered easy victories in the women's singles third round.

South Korea's world No. 1s Ko Sung Hyun/Lee Yong Dae were stunned by the 13th seeded Lee Sheng Mu and Tsai Chia Hsin from Chinese Taipei in the men's doubles last 16 duel 14-21, 21-14, 21-19.

"We are too eager to win this match, especially when lagging behind in the second set. We made lots of mistakes," said Lee.

China's Olympic champions Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng continued their momentum by beating Hoon Thien How/Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia 21-19, 21-13.

Third seeded pair Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen of Denmark and Second seeded Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong of Malaysia both won in straight sets.

In the women's doubles, China occupied half of the quarterfinal berths as all four Chinese pairs, including reigning champion Yu Yang/Wang Xiaoli, won at the third round.