Olympic and three times world champion Lin Dan edged South Korean top player Park Sung Hwan 21-15, 13-21, 23-21 in a hard-fought quarterfinal at the China Masters badminton super series on Friday.
Lin squandered five match points after leading 20-15 before he clinched the win in 69 minutes, the second longest match in the men's singles by far at this tournament.
"I was slow to find my form because I was not quite concentrated. After the world championships, I have been more focused on preparing for the national games," said the 26-year-old.
"To be honest, I was given a cold sweat by Park, who was perseverant and played well today," he added.
In the women's singles quarterfinals, qualifier Wang Xin stunned French seventh seed Pi Hongyan 21-11, 21-10 following her surprising win over fifth seeded Dane Tine Rasmussen in the second round.
World championships bronze medalist Wang Lin worked her way past South Korean Kim Moon Hi 21-19, 21-18 to face Wang in the last four.
All-England Open winners He Bin/Yu Yang effectively secured the China Masters mixed doubles gold medal for the hosts after they eliminated the only non-Chinese pairs Ko Sung Hyun/Ha Jung Eun from South Korea 21-15, 21-17.
He/Yu set up a semifinal clash with Xie Zhongbo/Ya Yawen who pushed aside Zhengbo/Tian Qing 21-13, 21-18.
Top seeded women's doubles duo Cheng Shu/Zhao Yunlei continued their run for a successful defense of the title as they beat Zhang Dan/Zhang Zhibo from Macao, China, 21-18, 21-16 and Pan Pan/Tian Qing clinched a 21-16, 21-19 win over former Olympic champions Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen who retired from the national team last year.
(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2009)