Lin Dan storms to China Open final

The 31-year-old will face India's K. Srikanth on Sunday

BEIJING: China's badminton superstar Lin Dan cruised into the finals of Badminton China open on Saturday, beating Taiwanese rival Chou Tien Chen 21-17, 21-17.

Lin, 31, who arrived at the tournament on the back of winning the Asian Games men's singles gold in September, will face India's K. Srikanth on Sunday.

Srikanth beat German Marc Zwiebler 21-11, 13-7 in a semi-final match which ended with a retirement after just 23 minutes.

Japan's 18 year old player Akane Yamaguchi slammed her way into the women's singles final with a 21-10, 25-23 victory against South Korean Bae Yeon Ju.

The youngster defeated Wang Shixian, the second seed and also the second in world rankings, earlier in the tournament.

Yamaguchi will on Sunday battle Indian Saina Nehwal, who secured a spot in the women's final by defeating Liu Xin of China 21-17, 21-17.

The 2014 Badminton China Open, part of the BWF World Super-series Premier, kicked off on Tuesday in Fuzhou, the capital of China's eastern Fujian Province.

The Fuzhou event will offer prize money of 700,000 U.S. dollars. The race will determine if players have qualified for the year-ending BWF Destination Dubai World Super-series, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.

 

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