Lin Dan cruises into semis at Asia Championships

Seoul: Five-times world champion Lin Dan cruised into the semi-finals of the men`s singles at the Badminton Asia Championships in South Korea on Friday.

The Chinese star needed just 34 minutes to dispatch Wei Nan of Hong Kong 21-10, 21-7 in Gimcheon about 230 kilometers (144 miles) southeast of Seoul. The former world number one, currently at 83rd after a long hiatus, is playing in his second tournament of 2014. He won his season debut at the China Masters earlier this month. The continental championships are missing the current world number one, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, who withdrew at the last moment. Lin has yet to drop a set in South Korea. He will face fellow Chinese Liu Kai in Saturday`s semis. The other semi-finals matchup will pit South Korea`s Hwang Jong-Soo against Sho Sasaki of Japan. In the women`s singles, the top-seed Wang Shixian of China edged past Lee Jang-Mi of South Korea 21-16, 21-19. She will take on P. V. Sindhu of India in the semi-finals Saturday. South Korean Sung Ji-Hyun, seeded fourth, reached the last four by beating Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei 16-21, 21-13, 21-18. Sayaka Takahashi of Japan knocked out Kim Hyo-Min of South Korea 21-13, 21-18 to also reach the last four. In the men`s doubles, Shi Longfei and Chen Zhuofu of China reached the semis, where they will play compatriots Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen.  It will be the third-seeded Thai tandem of Jongjit Maneepong and Puangpuapech Nipitphon against Shin Baek-Cheol and Yoo Yeon-Seong of South Korea in the other semi-finals matchup. Kim Ha-Na and Jung Kyung-Eun, the second-seeded South Korean women`s doubles team, made it to the final four with a 21-9, 19-21, 21-17 win over Ou Dongni and Xiong Mengjing of China.  Kim and Jung will meet another Chinese team in the semi-finals, Zhong Qianxin and Xia Huan. Luo Ying and Luo Yu of China and Ponnappa Ashwini and Gutta Jwata of India are the two other teams in the final four.