Chinese badminton player Lin Dan. (Photo : Getty Images)
Chinese badminton superstars Chen Long and Lin Dan advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2016 Singapore Open as they both defeated their respective opponents in the second round of competitions held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Thursday.
Chen, the tournament's no. 1 seed and also the current no. 1-ranked player in the world, "survived an early scare" and needed three sets to dispose the challenge of veteran shuttler Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand, 17-21, 21-18, and 21-9, to move through the last eight stage of the said tournament, as reported by Shanghai Daily.
The 34-year-old Ponsana, a two-time winner of the Singapore Open, claimed the first set to make a decent stand against the 27-year-old two-time World Champion, whose contest lasted one hour and 11 minutes, but he was eventually overpowered in the remaining sets when Chen finally got into his game.
"I think the match today was pretty tough. I lost a few points very carelessly and I didn't focus," said Chen after the game. "The opponent probably wanted to just win the second round and end the game but I wanted to drag another round so we were both on our best performances."
The Hubei China native is set to face Hong Kong player Ng Ka Long in the quarters after the 21-year-old thrashed Germany's Marc Zwiebler in straight sets, 21-15 and 23-21.
Meanwhile, the 32-year-old Lin, the tournament's second seed and current world no. 4 player, overpowered 18-year-old Indonesian shuttler Jonatan Christie in straight sets, 21-13, 21-7, to move on to the last eight round.
The pro-Lin crowd had been lively all throughout the match as the Fujian, China native admitted afterwards that he found energy from the audience which helped a lot in his dominating victory.
"Today is my second match and I did not expect so many fans to turn up so I'm very happy and grateful to them," Lin said. "I tried my best to control my rhythm on the court. I came out and did quite well. I did not give my opponent any chance."
Lin will meet Christie's countryman, world no. 9 Tommy Sugiarto, in the quarterfinals as the Indonesian easily beat Hans-Kristian Vittinghus of Denmark, 21-14, 21-16, in his own last 16 encounter, via Fox Sports.
