Changzhou: Chinese players showed their dominance in Friday’s China Masters quarter-finals at Changzhou, Jiangsu, China, which saw all four semi-final spots monopolized by the Chinese shuttlers.
Men’s singles No. 1 seed Lin Dan outlasted Taipei’s Hsu Hen Hao 21-14, 21-17 in 51 minutes.
Lin and Hsu went toe-to-toe early in the first set until 14-14, when Lin Dan reeled off seven consecutive points to take the first set.
The two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan finally seized control in the second set by wrapping up an easy battle against his Taiwanese opponent.
Lin will play teammate and No. 3 seed Qiao Bin after Qiao completed a 21-16, 22-20 victory over Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan in other quarter-finals.
The second seeded Tian Houwei also dismissed Hsueh Hsuan Yi of Taiwan 21-10, 21-11 to take on compatriot Huang Yuxiang on Saturday. Huang defeated his junior Sun Feixiang with a comfortable 21-11, 21-18 win.
With Lin Dan and Tian Houwei both in the top four of China Masters, they have gained enough qualification points to play at the World Championships this August in Glasgow, Scotland. On the other hand, reigning Olympic champion Chen Long has been squeezed out of top eight in the “Race to Glasgow” rankings. Chen would have to replace one of his teammates that ranked higher than him such as Shi Yuqi, Lin Dan, or Tian Houwei should he wanted to participate in the World Championships.
In men’s doubles, the Indonesia/Malaysia duo of Hendra Setiawan/Tan Boon Heong managed to beat No. 4 seeds Liu Cheng/Zhang Nan of China 19-21, 21-16, 21-14 to set up semi-final clash with No. 1 seeds Chen Hung Ling/Wang Chi-Lin of Taiwan.
