CHINA MASTERS QF - No Stroll in the Park for Dan; Pi Out

Lin Dan struggled against his former nemesis Park Sung Hwan to eventually make it to the semi-finals while Boonsak Ponsana and Peter Gade battled for just as long. Pi Hongyan was shown the exit by Wang Xin (pictured), a Super Series semi-final newcomer. Two Malaysian entries were the only ones to get the better of China.

By Raphael Sachetat. Photos: China Foto Press (live) and Badmintonphoto (archives)

We Three Wangs…

Wang Xin is a name one should remember. The 23-year-old shuttler once again proved she is destined to be a fixture for the years to come. She single-handedly ended the European challenge in Changzhou by showing the door to Pi Hongyan, a few weeks after the French veteran’s bronze medal in the World Championships, and a day after Wang triumphed over Denmark's finest. And she did it with style, as the Chinese-born Pi scored exactly half the points Wang did in the quick, merciless 21-11, 21-10 victory.

After her success in the Philippine Open earlier this year - beating Zhou Mi in the final, this new rising star will certainly be amongst the new shuttlers to shine from China. She will meet Wang Lin in the lower half of the draw, while teenager Wang Shixian and new World Champion Lu Lan will fight for the other final spot, making it an all-China affair already in the women's singles.

Lin Dan Struggles but Squeaks Through

Earlier in the day, Lin Dan (pictured) was facing one of his former nemeses. Park Sung Hwan of Korea was one of the few shuttlers to have a positive head-to-head record against Lin Dan before the former joined the Army - and Lin Dan became unstoppable towards his Olympic gold quest. But, in front of a boiling crowd, and for a fifth straight time since his embarrassing loss at home in 2007, Lin managed to win - not without a scare.

Leading 20-14 in the decider, Lin lost focus for a while just when he should have been nailing home the match and what had happened to him against Lee Chong Wei four years ago almost happened again: Park strung together six match point saves in a row to catch back up at 20-20, before Lin finally got it together and wrapped up the match 21-15, 13-21, 23-21. The World Champion will be facing Lee Chong Wei for the third time in China since the Beijing Olympic final. Another great match is in the cards for Saturday.

"I was slow to find my form because I was not quite concentrating. After the World Championships, I have been more focused on preparing for the national games," the 26-year-old Lin told the local media after his match.

"To be honest, I was given a cold sweat by Park, who was perseverant and played well today," he added.

Chen Jin and Boonsak Ponsana will be featured in the other semi-final as both shuttlers secured their spots in the next stage of the tournament, Ponsana beating Peter Gade (pictured) in another 69-minute, three-game battle.

Malaysian Masters

After China's singles players had won four out of five matches with top visiting stars, home doubles pairs looked set to finish the day unbeaten against the rest of the world in all three disciplines. Korea’s Ko Sung Hyun was the first double victim. He had to face two All England champions early in the day and was unable to put up much of a fight in either. Zhang Dan / Zhang Zhibo were slightly less dominated than in last year’s final against Cheng/Zhao but still went down to the top seeds in straight games.

However, finally, in the second last match of the day, Malaysia's Choong Tan Fook / Lee Wan Wah (pictured) got the better of Li Tian / Shen Ye, coming through in the clutch to win 21-13, 22-20. Next, they will deal with Xu Chen, who will be intent on reaching the final for the second straight year, this time partnering Guo Zhendong.

The last match of the day saw Ha Jung Eun and Kim Min Jung come up short once again against Chinese opposition. Despite many near misses and being ranked #5 in the world, the two Koreans have yet to beat a top Chinese pair. This time, they took an early lead in the second game against Gao Ling / Wei Yili but allowed the Chinese veterans to catch up and then run out to a 17-12 lead. The challengers kept it respectable but still went down 12-21, 17-21.

For complete results from the 2009 Li Ning China Masters Super Series quarter-finals, please CLICK HERE

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