OLYMPICS DAY 4 : Super Dan in Action

Lin Dan totally outplayed Park Sung Hwan in today's men's singles round of 16, regaining the crowd's faith in home champions after Gao Ling and Zheng Bo's loss. Peter Gade on the other hand, on his road to the quarter-final, had to give his best against Shoji Sato of Japan, saving two match points in the second game.

By Tarek Hafi, Live from Beijing. Photos: Badmintonphoto (Live)

Two straight, quick games is all Lin Dan (pictured) needed to defeat his Korean opponent, when all the crowd expected a tough match. Park Sung Hwan was, however, the first big test for Lin Dan, who has lost to the Korean twice in the past 2 years, even on his home soil, during the 2007 China Open. But a fired-up Super Dan came onto the court and controlled the game with power and technique, without any kind of pressure which could stop him from bringing the gold medal.

From the first game, Park tried to play aggressively but Lin Dan was simply too fast with his very efficient smashes and he kept pressuring the Korean. It really was punishment for Park as the home favourite trounced him 21-8 in the opening game.

Park Sung Hwan had a better start in the second game, looking more motivated than in the previous one. He pushed the Chinese to the back of the court, but Lin Dan remained solid all the time, retrieving every single shot. The world #1 quickly won his ticket to the quarter-final, winning 21-8, 21-11.

In the quarter-finals, Lin will meet an old mate, Peter Gade, who, by contrast, had a tough match against the very fast Japanese player Shoji Sato. Shoji had a good start in the first game, taking the lead at the interval, and afterwards widening the gap to 18-12. Gade (pictured) managed to claw his way back to 16-18, but it was too late and the Japanese player, having earned three game points at 20-17, missed two, but converted on the last and won the first game 21-19.

The Dane held the lead during most of the second game, moving out to a 14-8 lead, but his opponent wasn't here to give up at such an early stage of the match, after winning the first game and Shoji scored five points in a row. After another short run by Gade, Shoji Sato enhanced the pace and took another six points in row, giving him two match points. Experience was on the Dane’s side, however, and Peter Gade saved both two match points, and went on to nick the game 22-20. In the third game, the Danish legend, now full of confidence, had no big problems to win and took home the match 19-21, 22-20, 21-15.

The upset of the day in men's singles came from young Hsieh Yu Hsing of Chinese Taipei, who beat Wong Choong Hann, even after the latter had beaten the reigning Olympic Champion Taufik Hidayat on Monday. Wong just couldn't keep up with the Taiwan player’s stamina and attacks. The Malaysian won the first game 21-14, but couldn't find his rhythm in the second, which was won 21-17 by Hsieh Yu Hsing . In the third, at 16-all, the crowd intensified their support for the young player, inspiring him to grab an 18-16 lead, from which he went on to set himself up with three match points at 20-17. Hsieh missed the first but immediately made up for it and won the match 14-21, 21-17, 21-18. Having secured an unbelievable quarter-final spot in his first Olympic Games, the unseeded Hsieh fell to the floor, holding his head, and tried to grasp an Olympic dream come true.

Quarter-final Lineup:

Lin Dan (CHN) vs Peter Gade (DEN)
Chen Jin (CHN) vs Hsieh Yu-Hsing (TPE)
Bao Chunlai (CHN) vs Lee Hyun Il (KOR)
Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA) vs Lee Chong Wei (MAS)

For all Day 4 results, click HERE

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