Singapore Open Badminton: Lin Dan scrapes past Santoso to make semi-finals

By Stefanus Ian/Red Sports. Photo by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Friday, June 17, 2011 — Lin Dan fought back from a game down at the Singapore Open to complete a comeback victory over Indonesia’s Simon Santoso, 21-14, 13-21, 22-20.

Both players were evenly matched in the opening game with Simon the more aggressive player, smashing at every opportunity, while Lin Dan seemed content to just sit back passively. Lin Dan was slow off the blocks and this eventually cost him as Simon closed out the first set 21-14 quite easily, having led for the majority of the game.

“I knew Lin Dan was a fast, counter-attacking player so I tried to slow down the pace of the game and not get caught up into his rhythm,” said Santoso.

However, the Chinese world number one player came to life in the second game. He led for virtually the whole of the second as he dominated with his deceptive net plays and powerful smashes. There was some controversy midway at 7-5 when the main umpire ruled a lob by Simon to be in when the linesman had earlier ruled it wide, much to the dismay and disbelief of Lin Dan and his coach.

Nevertheless, Lin Dan never let it affect him and after shaking hands with the main umpire, resumed play shortly to loud cheers from the stand. Simon managed to level the score at 9-9 but Lin Dan switched gears and pulled away after to win the game comfortably 21-13.

Simon caught a break when he was down 9-11 in the third and deciding game. Returning a smash by his Chinese opponent, the shuttlecock hits the net and it fell kindly for him, to the delight of the Indonesian supporters in the stands. This clearly swung the momentum in his favour as he reeled off four straight points.

However, leading at 15-12, Simon’s eagerness got the better of him as he smashed a shot just long down the center. Lin Dan took over after that, scoring eight unanswered as the match seemed to be slipping away from Santoso’s grasp. The scoreboard showed 20-15, but credit to Simon, he never gave up hope.

“I did not look at the scoreboard and I just told myself to be patient and don’t fall into any of Lin Dan’s traps,” said Santoso.

He slowly saved all five match points to tie at 20-20, igniting belief among Indonesian supporters as they started cheering the 25-years-old Indonesian on. However, Santoso’s comeback stopped short as Lin Dan finished off the set with two consecutive points to win 22-20.

“I’m quite satisfied with my performance as I managed to play to the best of my abilities,” said Santoso.

Lin Dan will now face Denmark’s Peter Gade, who cruised past his quarter final opponent Du Pengyu 21-15, 21-15, in the semi-final on Saturday, June 18th, 2011.