Chinese world number one Lin Dan avenged his controversial Korea Open defeat with a 21-12, 21-10 demolition of Lee Hyun-Il at the Asian Badminton Championships on Friday. The top seed, who hit the headlines over a shoving match in the Seoul final, mastered the South Korean to remain on course for his first title on Malaysian soil.
Lin insisted the incident in January, when he rushed at opposing coach Li Mao after a questionable line-call and appeared poised to strike him, was behind him. "I came here well prepared and that was probably why I won against the Korean quite easily," he said.
"That incident in the Korea Open is a thing of the past. I was just determined to win my match today and I am pleased with my performance." The combustible Chinese star was also forced to apologise for losing his temper during a training match this month, but denied reports he hit a coach.
In Saturday's semi-finals he will face All-England champion Chen Jin, the fourth seed, who stopped Malaysian veteran Wong Choong Hann 21-11, 21-18. Choong Hann was Malaysia's final hope in the men's singles after former All England champion Muhammad Hafiz Hashim fell by the wayside, losing to Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia 21-16, 21-17.
Kuncoro will play Park Sung-Hwan of South Korea, the seventh seed, who advanced after a tumultous 70-minute battle against Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana 17-21, 23-21, 21-17. In the women's singles, Hong Kong's top seeded Wang Chen strode into the semi-finals after beating Japan's Kaori Imabeppu 21-13, 21-9 in 32 minutes.
Wang's team-mate Yip Pui Yin also booked a place in the semis after beating Japan's Yu Hirayama 22-20, 21-8 in 37 minutes. China's Jiang Yanjiao joined them in the last four with a straightforward win over Ai Goto of Japan.
In the semis, Wang will play Jiang while Yip will take on the unseeded Wang Lin, who trounced Malaysia's Wong Mew Choo, 21-19, 21-14. "I have just changed my coach and still adapting to the change in my style of play. I was not able to get into my rhythm," said Wong, the China Open champion.
Meanwhile third seeds Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong inched closer to the men's doubles title with a hard-fought 21-11, 12-21, 21-10 win over fellow Malaysians Mohamad Zakry Abdul Latif and Mohamad Fairuzizuan Mohamad Tazari. Two-time defending champions Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah of Malaysia were knocked out by Koreans Ji Man-Hwang and Lee Jae-Jin in three games.
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