CHENGDU, Southwest China, March 9 (Xinhuanet) -- The famous Chinese badminton "couple" Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang cruised into the last eight in the men's singles and women's singles hand in hand at the 2006 China Masters Badminton Championships here Thursday.
World number one Lin, dubbed as "Super Dan" by the media, crushed Dicky Palyama of the Netherlands, ranked 24th internationally, 21-17, 21-10 without showing his best.
"It was extremely fast (under the new scoring system)," said the Chinese ace, "I was a little bit nervous during the first set,but once I have regained my form, the match is over."
His girlfriend Xie, number two in the world, beat Germany's Juliane Schenk 21-15, 22-20 in 35 minutes, welcoming compatroit LuLan in the quarterfinal, who ousted the eighth seed Eriko Hirose of Japan 21-16, 16-21, 21-15.
Three Chinese youngsters made three big surprises of the day. Double world junior champion Chen Jin upset Olympic semifinalist Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand once again after the All England clash earlier this year by a 21-18, 21-18 win.
China's national champion Jiang Yanjiao prevailed over the fourth seed Pi Hongyan of France 21-19, 19-21, 21-16.
Coming as a "local" girl, the fourth ranked Pi, originally fromSichuan Province, received warm welcome from the audience, feeling distressed after the lose.
Wang Lin, 17, shocked seventh seed Yao Jie, representing the Netherlands by an easy 21-12, 21-16 win.
Top seed Zhang Ning, China, third seed Wang Chen of Hong Kong, China, fifth seed Xu Huaiwen, representing Germany and Mia Audina Tjiptawan from the Netherlands secured the other four berths in the last eight of women's singles.
Denish treature Peter Gade, together with teammate Kenneth Jonassen both eased past their opponents to reach the quarterfinalof men's singles. The other tickets went to Malaysia's Hafiz Hashim and Kay Bin Yeoh, China's Chen Hong and Chen Yu.
In the men's doubles, top seeds Jens Eriksen/Martin Lundgaard Hansen of Denmark, were pushed to their best to edge out Chew Choon Eng/Tan Bin Shen from Malaysia 22-20, 18-21, 21-19.
"It is really tough," said Hansen, "However, we are more experienced and know how to deal with the pressure."
In contrast, China's top duo Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng advanced with straight sets. The other Chinese pair Sang Yang/Zheng Bo eliminated a Malay duet. Enditem
