April 20, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 13, 1429

JOHOR BAHRU (Malaysia), April 19: World number four Chen Jin of China moved into the finals of the Asian Badminton Championships (ABC) on Saturday with an upset 21-13, 21-14 win over compatriot and world number one Lin Dan in only 23 minutes.

Chen needed only to reach the final of the ABC to seal a place in the Beijing Olympics.

It is the last tournament for players to collect qualification points ahead of the Games this August.

Even if world number five Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark wins the individual title in the ongoing European Championships in Denmark, the Dane will not be able to dislodge Chen at the fourth spot.

Chen will now join world number one Lin and world number three Bao Chunlai in the summer Games.

A country can have a maximum of three players if all of them are ranked within the top four in the world standings.

The crowd had packed the Johor Bahru Indoor Stadium, expecting a thriller between the two greats from China. But were disappointed by the lacklustre performance of the two players.

Chen, however, denied that the match was a fix.

“It was a normal game between Lin Dan and me. We know each other’s play quite well,” said Chen.

“Lin Dan is injured and that is probably why he could not give his best.

But I am happy to have secured a place in the Olympics,” he added.

“Yes, I know the crowd was booing but I was not bothered at all. I didn’t care what was happening as I was concentrating on my game.”

In Sunday’s final, Chen will be up against seventh seeded Park Sung Hwan of South Korea who beat fifth seed Sony Dwi Kuncoro in a 70-minute thriller. He recovered from a one set deficit to win 14-21, 21-16, 21-19.

Park, ranked 10 in the world, was also taken to three sets in his semifinal match against Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana.

In the women’s singles semi-final matches it was a bad day for Hong Kong when top seed Wang Chen and third seed Yip Pui Yin lost their respective matches.

Wang Chen was beaten 17-21, 16-21 by defending champion Jiang Yanjiao of China while unseeded Wang Lin also of China upset Pui Yin 21-14, 21-18.—AFP