Angus Ng Ka-long stuns legend Lin Dan in Germany to bolster US $1 million All-England hopes
Major morale booster for sixth seed to beat two-time Olympic badminton gold medallist ahead of mega money showdown in Birmingham
Shuttler Angus Ng Ka-long scored a major morale booster ahead of next week’s All England Championships following a 2-0 win over Lin Dan of China in the German Open early on Saturday morning Hong Kong time.
It took almost an hour before the Hong Kong number one pulled off a tough 21-16, 22-20 victory over second seed Lin in the men’s singles quarter-finals.
Just a day after slamming the new service rule introduced in the world tour for the first time, Lin had to pack his bag for the Birmingham tournament which begins on Wednesday. Lin, the two-time Olympic champion, will be pursuing his seventh title at the US$1 million event.
Ng, the sixth seed in Mulheim, will now need to overcome another mainlander, Shi Yuqi, if he wants to make it into his first final of the year. The other semi-final features Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan and Kenta Nishimoto of Japan.
The result gave Ng a 2-1 lead over Lin out of their three previous encounters.
In November at the 2017 Hong Kong Open, the mainlander saddened fans at the Coliseum in Hung Hom where he narrowly defeated the home favourite Ng 2-1 in the second round, a reverse of their 2016 result at the same tournament when Ng prevailed 2-0.
