Chinese Dragons show their claws

China’s dominance is beginning to show at the Li Ning China Open Super Series 2010 with seven of their men singles players reaching the quarter-finals on Thursday.

With the men’s singles event entering the quarter-finals, Danish star Jan O Jorgensen remains the sole non-Chinese standing and he will play Du Pengyu in the last eight. Jorgensen was forced to sweat before outplaying Hong Kong’s Chan Yan Kit 21-15, 19-21, 21-16 in round two.

Korean player Lee Hyun-il suffered a pre-mature exit after losing being tamed by young Chinese player Lu Yi, who won 21-14, 21-7. His reward for winning is a match up with teammate Bao Chunlai.

The match of the day in the quarter-finals will certainly be the clash between two good friends Olympic champion Lin Dan and Chen Long. Lin Dan had an easy time outwitting Shon Wan Ho 21-9, 21-12 while Chen Long managed a comfortable 21-12, 21-16 win over South Korea’s Park Sung Hwan.

Lin Dan needs a good result in this tournament as he is aiming to qualify for the Victor BWF Super Series Finals 2010 which will be held at the Hsinchuang Gymnasium in Taipeh from Jan 5-9 2011.

After 10 Super Series events this year, Lin Dan is only 13th in the Super Series standings as he has played in only four Super Series events – Japan (runners-up), China Masters (champion) Swiss (quarter-finalist) and All England (quarter-finalist). He will need to shine in the last two tournaments to stand a realistic chance of reaching the Super Series Finals, which for the first time ever, will offer ranking points to the finalists.

In the women’s singles, top seeds Wang Xin and Wang Yihan cruised to the quarter-finals with ease. Wang Xin was given an early scare before defeating Singaporean Xing Aiying 23-21, 21-13 while Wang Yihan outpaced Chen Xiao Jia 21-11, 21-17.

Thai lass Inthanon Ratchanok denied host player Lu Lan of a chance of reaching the last eight after managing a 23-21, 15-21, 21-19 win.

South Korea’s Bae Youn Joo also made her way to the quarterfinals after beating Chinese Taipeh’s Cheng Shao Chieh 21-15, 21-6.

The other quarter-finalists are Hui Zhou, Wang Shixian, Jiang Yanjiao and Xiz Jingyun.