Traditional powerhouses China, South Korea and Malaysia marched into the badminton men's team semifinals at the 15th Asian Games in Doha on Saturday.

 

In an encounter with long-time rival Indonesia, newly-crowned world champion Lin Dan opened the win for China, beating Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat 21-17, 17-21, 21-16.

 

Although Asian Games rookie Chen Jin lost to Simon Santoso before world No. l Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng won the second point for China, Die Zhongbo/Guo Zhendong knocked down Luluk Hadiyanto/ Alvent Chandra in straight sets.

 

World No. 1 Lin, nicknamed "Super Dan", was unfazed by hundreds of noisy Indonesian fans, releasing a number of killing shots.

 

Taufik also showed good form, but could only play second fiddle to highly-motivated Lin.

 

"I won the rubber because I got a stronger mentality now," said23-year-old Lin.

 

Having blanked India 5-0 on Thursday plus Saturday's victory, China entered the semifinals as the Pool A winner.

 

Malaysia and South Korea also advanced to the last four with convincing wins.

 

Malaysia knocked out Hong Kong of China 4-1 and South Korea clinched a 3-1 victory over Thailand. The two winning teams are going to clash in the semi-finals next Monday.

 

Indonesia has to fight for chance to challenge China again, against Thailand and Japan in another team robin on Sunday.

 

In the women's section, after Zhang Ning, Gao Ling/Huang Sui, and Die Xingfang all beat their Indonesian rivals in straight sets, China became the first team into the last four.

 

With an unbeatable 3-0 lead over Indonesia, China racked up in the final two games through Athens Olympic champions Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen and Asian Games rookie Zhu Lin.

 

Malaysia, swept by China 5-0 on Thursday, fought vehemently against Indonesia on Saturday. The Malaysians won the first two games, but went down under attacks from Indonesian shuttlers in the following three games.

 

Japan, having edged South Korea on Thursday, defeated Chinese Taipei to take a place in the semifinals.

 

Despite a 3-2 loss to Hong Kong of China, less fancied Singapore clinched a berth of the last four after defeating favored Thailand 4-1 this morning.

 

Hong Kong got an opportunity to compete with Indonesia and South Korea for the remaining semifinal berth.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 3, 2006)