Chen Jin of China defeated World No. 1 Lin Dan in the semifinal Saturday in an upset at the Asian Badminton Championship, the last qualifying tournament before the Beijing Olympics. Chen, who also beat compatriot Lin in the All England Open final, quickly downed the defending champion 21-13, 21-14. Lin once again was stopped short of his first ABC crown. Lin's usual attacking play was absent and Chen, seeded No. 4, won comfortably to set up a final against South Korea's Park Sung-hwan on Sunday. Park beat Indonesia's Sony Dwi Cuncoro 14-21, 21-16, 21-19 in the other semifinal. “Both of us played our usual game and because we knew each other so well we could anticipate each other's shots. But I believe Lin Dan is nursing an injury and it has affected his game today,' said Chen. The championship, which is offering a total prize money of $125,000, is the last qualifying tournament to determine rankings for the Olympics in August. Lin's surprisingly quick defeat was good news for China, as it maintained Chen's Badminton World Federation (BWF) ranking at No. 4 – enough to ensure an Olympic berth. Lin is still at No. 1. Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei is No. 2 and China's Bao Chunlai is No. 3. According to the BWF guidelines, a country has the right to three places in the Olympics if its players are ranked in the top four. The 24-year-old Park said: “I am happy to be in the final and I am going to give it my best shot even though in our last meeting at the Asian Games in Doha two years ago, I lost to him.” It will be an all-China affair in the women's singles with defending champion Jiang Yanjiao taking on Wang Lin. Jiang beat 2006 champion Wang Chen of Hong Kong 21-17, 21-16 while Wang Lin beat another Hong Kong player, Yip Pui Yin, the No. 3 seed, 21-14,21-18 in the two semifinals. The women's doubles final will be between world's No. 1 pair Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen of China against Taiwan's Cheng Wen Hsin and Chien Yu Chin, the No. 3 seeds. In the semifinals, the Chinese pair beat Indonesia's Vita Marissa and Liliyana Natsir 21-10, 21-16 while Cheng and Chien overcame the Korean challenge of Lee Hyo-jung and Lee Kyung-won 21-18, 21-5. Host Malaysia's hope of having a representative in the final was dashed when the men's doubles pair of Koo Kim Keat and Tan Boon Heong, the No. 3 seed, was beaten by Korea's Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung, the world championship runner-up. The Koreans, who won 16-21, 21-16, 21-19, will play Indonesia's Nova Widianto and Chandra Wijaya in the final. __
