Fuzhou, China: China’s badminton superstar Lin Dan cruised into the finals of Badminton China open on Saturday, beating Taiwanese rival Chou Tien Chen 21-17, 21-17.
Lin, 31, who arrived at the tournament on the back of winning the Asian Games men’s singles gold in September, will face India’s K. Srikanth on Sunday.
Srikanth beat German Marc Zwiebler 21-11, 13-7 in a semi-final match which ended with a retirement after just 23 minutes.
Japan’s 18 year old player Akane Yamaguchi slammed her way into the women’s singles final with a 21-10, 25-23 victory against South Korean Bae Yeon Ju.
The youngster defeated Wang Shixian, the second seed and also the second in world rankings, earlier in the tournament.
Yamaguchi will on Sunday battle Indian Saina Nehwal, who secured a spot in the women’s final by defeating Liu Xin of China 21-17, 21-17.
The World No. 5 Indian took time to get into her rhythm and Liu looked the better among the duo at the start, taking a 7-4 lead to pressurise Saina briefly.
However, the 24-year-old Hyderabadi began to control the proceedings and equalised at 11-all. Saina went on to earn points regularly despite tough competition from the Chinese World No. 17.
Liu conceded more points and taking advantage of that, Saina clinched the game in no time.
In the second game, it was a neck-and-neck contest till the 9-point mark before Saina bagged a 12-9 lead. Liu raised her game and managed to equalise at 14-all, also taking a two-point lead (16-14).
But Saina sent a flurry of cross court smashes to grab a six-point lead and seal the game in her favour.
