Lin Dan makes it through to semi-finals in Australia
Two-time Olympic gold medallist advances past South Korea's Son Wan-ho
China’s Olympic and world champion Lin Dan overcame a slow start to win through to the semi-finals of the Australian Badminton Open in Sydney on Friday.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist and five-time world champion, who had to qualify for the Sydney event, downed South Korea’s Son Wan-ho 21-17, 21-10.
Lin, 30, considered the greatest badminton player of all time, saw his ranking drop to 104 after a seven-month sabbatical from the sport, before returning to win the Asia Championships and China Masters this year.
Lin will play compatriot Tian Houwei in Saturday’s semi-final after Tian eliminated China’s Wang Zhengming 25-23, 21-16.
On the other side of the men’s draw, Simon Santoso will play Tommy Sugiarto in an all-Indonesian semi. Santoso ousted Hong Kong’s Wong Wing-ki 21-17, 21-15 and Sugiarto beat Kento Momota of Japan, 21-18, 21-7.
Top seed and defending champion Li Han of China was knocked out of the women’s singles by Japan’s Yui Hashimoto, 21-18, 21-18. Li never looked confident once she lost the first game while Hashimoto powered on, consistently executing the sweetest of timing and tightest of net shots.