Injured Lin Dan out, Chen Long proceeds into Men’s Singles final of the Japan Open Super Series
China’s Lin Dan, who is the reigning World and Olympic Champion, is out of the 2011 Japan Open Super Series tournament as he got a severe injury during his quarter-final fight against team-mate, Chen Jin.
Lin won the quarter-final fight with a close margin but his injury provided an opportunity to Chen Long to reach into Men’s Singles final of the 2011 Japan Open Super Series, which is in progress in Tokyo, Japan.
Due of the intensity of the foot injury, World Number Two shuttler, Lin decided not to play against Long in the Men’s Singles semi-final match. However, the withdrawal of Lin spared a chance for Long, who is in tremendous form as he clinched the Men’s Singles
title at the 2011 China Masters Super Series, which ended last week in China.
The 27-year-old Lin played a long match against Jin in the quarter-final, which took more than an hour of fast badminton. He got an injury in his left foot, which left the shuttler in a painful condition. In order to recover swiftly, he decided not to play
against Long to avoid the aggravation of his injury.
Lin said, “I was disappointed that I could not continue playing, but we have more tournaments for the race for the London Olympics, so I don't want to take a risk now.”
While talking about the importance of Japan Open as a qualifying event for the 2012 London Olympic Games, Lin said, “This is not the only event that counts towards the Olympics. The race continues until May next year. I'm going to play solidly in each tournament.
I promise that I will come back next year in better form.”
The withdrawal of Lin has provided Long with a chance to meet World Number One and top seed of the tournament, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the final. The Malaysian won the semi-final battle in style as he toppled Peter Hoeg Gade of Denmark in straight games
by taking 41 minutes in the court.
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