TOKYO, Sept 15: Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei beat world number one and defending champion Lin Dan of China in the semi-finals of the Japan Open badminton tournament on Saturday.

The 23-year-old Lin took an 11-5 advantage in the first game but then tumbled to a 21-19, 21-15 defeat to the world number four.

Meanwhile in the women’s event, Tine Rasmussen of Denmark continued her remarkable run at the tournament by defeating Chinese seventh seed Lu Lan 21-19, 21-9 to reach the final.

Rasmussen had already upset the 2006 European champion Xu Huaiwen of Germany, Asian champion Jiang Yanjiao and world number one Zhang Ning this week.

In the final on Sunday, Rasmussen will challenge another Chinese, three-time All England champion Xie Xingfang who defeated Jun Jae-Youn of South Korea 21-9, 21-17 in the other semi-final.

Malaysia’s Lee meanwhile will take on 2004 Olympic gold medallist Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, who defeated compatriot Simon Santoso 21-14, 21-16 in the second men’s semi-final.

World number one Lin blamed fatigue for his poor showing.

“As I said before, I’m not in my best form after having been tired following the world championships,” said Lin after the 41-minute match.

“I think he gained the momentum when he evened the score in the first game and then took it. He’s not a lower-ranked player, he’s just one of the strong players in the world,” added Lin.

Lee, who defeated Lin in the Malaysian Open twice and in the Sudirman Cup in June, made some good overhead shots before taking the first game.

He surged ahead 4-0 in the second game and slowly but steadily progressed to victory when Lin netted on the first match point.

“He [Lee] was desperate because the results count towards the Olympic qualification. For me, my goal this week was just to play my best since I’m on my way to getting back to my top form,” said Lin.

It was Lin’s first defeat in three months after his wins at the China Masters and the world championships.

Meanwhile, Lee said: “Usually I cannot play the way I want to play against Lin Dan, but today I was able to play my game without making many errors. Since I won the Indonesian Open this season, I feel like I can beat anybody.”

Rasmussen was just happy to reach the finals by beating four of the top eight players in the world.

“I don’t think about tomorrow, I’m just so happy. I knew I had a level to go to win against the Chinese players, but I didn’t know I could beat four in a row in the same tournament,” she said. —AFP