Seventh seed Lin Dan survived a scare from Japan’s Riichi Takeshita before winning his Chinese Taipei Open semi-final in three tight sets at Taipei on Saturday. The Chinese star won 21-15, 14-21, 21-18 in 65 minutes.
Lin Dan, who is looking to climb higher in the BWF world rankings by winning the Chinese Taipei Open title, was stretched to the limit before prevailing.
After trailing 11-3 in the first set, Takeshita mounted a resilient comeback to close the gap to 11-8. Lin Dan, however, proved too strong and eased to the opening set 21-15.
Takeshita then stormed out of the blocks in the second set, using heavy attacking play to open up a 7-0 lead. He held his nerve, gave Lin Dan no chance to draw level, and took the set 21-14.
In the decider, Takeshita showed guile and fighting spirit, refusing to wilt under the weight of Lin Dan’s sublime smashing. The unseeded player tied the score at four different points in the game. The Olympic champion then roared back to hold off the Japanese challenger at 21-18.
Lin Dan will face compatriot Wang Zhengming in the final, after Wang knocked out Wei Nan of Hong Kong in the other men’s singles semi-final, 21-18, 21-16.
Other Semi-Final Line-Ups
- Mixed doubles: Alfian Eko Prasetya and Annisa Saufika (Indonesia) vs Liu Yuchen and Yu Xiaohan (China)
- Women’s singles: Sung Ji Hyun (Korea) vs Liu Xin (China)
- Women’s doubles: Wang Xiaoli and Wang Yu Yang (China) vs Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii (Indonesia)
- Men’s singles: Lin Dan (China) vs Wang Zhengming (China)
- Men’s doubles: Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen (China) vs Andrei Adistia and Hendra Aprida Gunawan (Indonesia)