Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang, the two top-seeded titleholders and one
of China's most famous sporting couples, reached the quarter-finals
of the All-England Open on Thursday.
The two celebrated by going on Birmingham's big wheel together
after winning the men's and women's singles titles within a couple
of hours of each other last year, and their straight games
victories Thursday created visions of another combination of
success and romance in Sunday's finals.
Lin looked determined to reassert himself as the world's best
player as he advanced with impressive changes of gear during a
21-14, 21-18 win over Simon Santoso, a nimble Indonesian qualifier,
while Xie overcame Salakjit, a Thai qualifier, 21-11, 21-10,
appearing not to use a couple of gears at all.
Xie seemed pleased to do enough to control the rallies and to
dominate her opponent, while saving her energies for possible
tougher struggles to come.
"I deal with the pressure of the situation on court better than
anyone else," she said.
"I choose the right shot without taking too many chances and not
all of my opponents do that."
Lin appeared keen both to defend the world's oldest title and to
return to the winner's podium after his unexpected failure in the
last Super Series tournament in Kuala Lumpur.
There the surprising left-hander was beaten in the second round;
here he advanced to the quarter-finals with a performance which
displayed what a uniquely versatile competitor he is.
Lin would play at different paces, accelerating when he felt he
needed a run of points, and would hit at different speeds, which
was demoralizing for the admirable Santoso, even though he stuck to
his task as best he could.
"The match was fine - it wasn't too hard," Lin said.
"I was very much looking forward to playing Taufik and Gade, but
they are out," added Lin, referring to the withdrawal of Olympic
champion Taufik Hidayat and the first round defeat of former world
number one Peter Gade.
"I was surprised - I was expecting him to win," Lin said of
Gade's loss to Dicky Palyama of The Netherlands.
"It's very disappointing that neither of them is here now."
Lin's next opponent is not, as the seedings suggested, Muhammad
Hafiz Hashim, because the former All-England champion from Malaysia
was steadily outplayed by Sony Dwi Kuncoro, who looked superbly
prepared for the third tournament of the series.
Kuncoro won 21-11, 21-14, and was mobile, strong, and excellent
in defence, causing Hafiz to give up most of his more ambitious
airborne attacks in the second game and try a few more rallies in
the forecourt. But the number eight seed had little more success
there.
Xie next plays her compatriot Jiang Yanjiao, the rising world
number ten who brought down the fifth seeded Yao Jie in the first
round and followed it with a 21-12, 21-12 win over Malaysia's Wong
Pei Xian.
(China Daily via AFP March 9, 2007)
