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, who is looking to climb the BWF world rankings by winning the Chinese Taipei Open title, was pushed to the limit before prevailing 21-15, 14-21, 21-18 in 65 minutes.
Takeshita trailed 11-3 in the first set but mounted a resilient comeback to close the gap to 11-8. Lin Dan regained control, however, and eased to the opening game, taking it 21-15.
Takeshita Hits Back in the Second Set
Takeshita attacked relentlessly in the second game and opened up a 7-0 lead over Lin Dan. He held his nerve, denied the Chinese player any chance to draw level, and took the set 21-14.
Lin Dan Edges the Decider
In the decider, Takeshita showed guile and fight, with the samurai spirit refusing to wilt under the weight of Lin Dan’s sublime smashing. The unseeded player tied the score on four separate occasions. The Olympic champion then roared back to fend off the Japanese challenger at 21-18.
Lin Dan will face compatriot Wang Zhengming in the final, after Wang knocked out Hong Kong’s Wei Nan in the other men’s singles semi-final, winning 21-18, 21-16.
Other Semi-Final Line-Ups
The remaining semi-final pairings are:
- 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)