Lin Dan advances, Vivian Hoo/Woon Khe Wei exit Swiss Open

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Lin Dan is on course to win his first international tournament of 2017 at Swiss Open. (photo: AFP)

Basel: The men’s singles No. 1 seed Lin Dan of China is back in the Swiss Open semi-finals on Friday, the tournament he had won in 2004 and 2008.

Lin was struggling to move fluently against Ihsan Maulana Mustofa of Indonesia in the first set. The two-time Olympic champion had to rely on his experience to slowly claw his way back from 10-14 to surge ahead and took the first set 21-17. The second set was surprisingly one-sided with the Chinese star winning 21-14. Lin who also known as “Super Dan” will play another Indonesian player Anthony Sinisuka Ginting on Saturday.Lin Dan is on course to win his first international tournament of 2017 at Swiss Open. (photo: AFP)

Second seed Shi Yuqi also reached the semi-finals after claiming a tough quarter-final win against No. 5 seed H. S. Prannoy of India. The 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games gold medalist Shi came back from 13-18 down before winning the first set 21-19. The demoralized Prannoy could only wave the white flag as Shi closed out the match with a 21-11 second set victory. Shi will clash with Taiwanese player and No. 6 seed Wang Tzu Wei next. After dropping the first set, Wang rallied back to beat Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan 14-21, 21-16, 21-17 in the quarter-finals.

Malaysia’s campaign at the Swiss Open ended on Friday as women’s doubles pair No. 3 seeds Vivian Hoo/Woon Khe Wei failed to progress further after losing to No. 7 seeds Maiken Fruergaard/Sara Thygesen of Denmark in the quarter-finals. The Malaysian pair put up strong resistance in the second set, but failed to convert in the decider to go down 18-21, 21-8, 15-21 in 72 minutes.

Zhang Nan of China will go into the Swiss Open semi-finals on a high after winning the men’s doubles and mixed doubles quarter-final matches. He and Liu Cheng will play No. 4 seeds Marcus Ellis/Chris Langridge of England in the men’s doubles semi-finals on Saturday, while he and Li Yinhui will meet No. 2 seeds Praveen Jordan/Debby Susanto of Indonesia in the mixed doubles semi-finals.

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