Olympic and World champion Lin Dan’s comeback trail looks set to end with a second straight victory as Chinese and Korean players dominate the finals of the Asian Championships.
Lin Dan, who won the China Masters Grand Prix Gold last week, will face Japan’s Sho Sasaki for the men’s singles title.
In the semi-finals on Saturday, the unseeded Lin Dan was too strong for teammate Liu Kai and went on to register a smashing 21-14, 21-13 win in only 27 minutes.
Sasaki, however, was on the court for 55 minutes before securing a 21-13, 21-15 win over Korea’s Hwang Joo Soo.
Meanwhile, the Chinese and the Koreans will each feature in four of the five finals which will be played at the Gimcheon Indoor Stadium in Gimcheon, South Korea on Sunday.
Three of the four finals will see the mighty Chinese lock horns with the Koreans – in the men’s doubles, women’s singles and women’s doubles. Only the men’s singles and mixed doubles will not be a China-Korea final.
Olympic and World champion Lin Dan, who won the China Masters Grand Prix Gold last week, will face Japan’s Sho Sasaki for the men’s singles title while in the mixed doubles third seeds Lee Chun Hei-Chau Hoi Wah of Hong Kong will take on fourth seeds Shin Baek Choel-Jang Ye Na of Korea in the final.
In the semi-finals on Saturday, the unseeded Lin Dan was simply too strong for teammate Liu Kai in his 21-14, 21-13 win in only 27 minutes. Sasaki, however, was on the court for 55 minutes before registering a 21-13, 21-15 win over Korea’s Hwang Joo Soo.
The women’s singles will be between top seed Wang Shixian of China and Korean fourth seed Sung Ji Hyun. In the semis Shixian battled for 78 minutes to subdue India’s rising woman shuttler PV Shindhu for a 15-21, 22-20, 21-12 win while Ji Hyun beat Japan’s Sayaka Takahashi 23-21, 21-13 in 48 minutes.
In the all-China men’s doubles semifinals Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen outplayed teammates Shi Longfei-Chen Zhuofu 21-9, 21-14 while Koreans Shin Baek Choel-Yoo Yeon Seon upset Thailand’s third seeds Maneepong Jongjit-Nipitphon 21-17, 22-20.
The women’s doubles semi-finals saw Luo Ying-Luo Yu of China had no difficulty in their 21-17, 21-7 win over India’s Ashwinin Ponnappa-Jwala Gutta and Koreans Kim Ha Na-Jung Kyung Eun faced a tough battle against China’s Zhong Qianxin-Huan Xia for a 21-23, 21-15. 21-16 win in 83 minutes.
RESULTS (All semi-finals)
Men
Singles
Lin Dan (Chn) beat Liu Kai (Chn) 21-14, 21-13
Sho Sasaki (Jpn) beat Hwang Joo Soo (Kor) 21-13, 21-15
Doubles
Shin Baek Choel-Yoo Yeon Seong (Kor) beat Maneepong Jongjit-Nipitphon Puangpuapech (Tha) 21-17, 22-20
Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen (Chn) beat Shi Longfei-Chen Zhuofu (Chn) 21-9, 21-14
Women
Singles
Sung Ji Hyun (Kor) beat Sayaka Takahashi (Jpn) 23-21, 21-13
Wang Shixian (Chn) beat PV Shindhu (Ind) 15-21, 22-20, 21-12
Doubles
Luo Ying-Luo Yu (Chn) beat Ashwini Ponnappa-Jwala Gutta (Ind) 21-12, 21-7
Kim Ha Na-Jung Kyung Eun (Kor) beat Zhong Qianxin-Huan Xia (Chn) 21-23, 21-15, 21-16
Mixed doubles
Lee Chun Hei-Chau Hoi Wah (Hkg) beat Zhang Wen-Huan Xia (Chn) 21-13, 21-15
Shin Baek Choel-Jang Ye Na (Kor) beat Sudket Prapakamol- T. Saralee (Tha) 21-11, 21-12
