Olympic champion Lin suffers quarter exit at All England Open
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Olympic and three times world champion Lin Dan suffered quarterfinal exit at the 100th All England Open Badminton Championship on Friday as the Chinese top player was edged out by teammate Bao Chunlai in three games.
![Lin Dan suffered quarterfinal exit at the 100th All England Open Badminton Championship on Friday as the Chinese top player was edged out by teammate Bao Chunlai in three games. [Zeng Yi/Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20100313/0011432100f50d0548550c.jpg "Lin Dan suffered quarterfinal exit at the 100th All England Open Badminton Championship on Friday as the Chinese top player was edged out by teammate Bao Chunlai in three games. [Zeng Yi/Xinhua]") |
| Lin Dan suffered quarterfinal exit at the 100th All England Open Badminton Championship on Friday as the Chinese top player was edged out by teammate Bao Chunlai in three games. [Zeng Yi/Xinhua] |
Lin, winning the prestigious event four times in previous six years, lost the first game 21-16. The 26-year-old then took one game back in 21-18 but was overplayed by Bao 21-17 in the decider.
It's the fist time since 2007 France Open that Lin was beaten by Bao, but the four-time All England Open champion didn't believe that he had below-par performance on Friday. "I played quite well but Bao played better."
Bao, 27, said that he prepared well for the tough match. "I got great speed today and performed well in long strikes." However, Bao insisted that Saturday's semifinal would be more important as he is set to meet Japanese young sensation Kenichi Tago who edged third seed Chen Jin of China in three games.
Danish veteran Peter Hoeg Gade believed that he had played one of his best games on Friday as he overcame Indonasian ace Taufik Hidayat in 20-22, 22-20 and 22-20.
Gade's semifinal opponent will be Malaysia's world number one Lee Chong Wei, who came from behind to see off South Korean Shon Wan Ho in three games.
In the women's singles, China's defending champion Wang Yihan edged out Zhou Mi from Chinese Hong Kong in three games while reigning world champion Lu Lan was knocked out by Danish veteran Tine Rasmussen.
Lu, winning the first game against Danish Tine Rasmussen in 21-16, but failed to hold on the momentum, losing the following two games in 23-21, 21-11.
"She got great power and speed and my strikes became weaker and weaker during the match," said the 23-year-old Lu, who seeded sixth in the event. "I think that's the main reason for my defeat."
Rasmussen, the winner of the event in 2008, also advanced into the final here last year. The 30-year-old top player is going to fight against Indian seventh seed Saina Nehwal in the semifinals.
