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Lin and Xie Survive First-Round Scares in Thailand

Friday, 27th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

Lin Dan
Lin Dan
China's top badminton players, Lin Dan （林丹）and Xie Xingfang (谢杏芳) both survived first-round scares in the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold, being held in Bangkok's Nimibutr Gymnasium.

In the three-game matches, Xie and Lin both took three games to defeat their opponents. Xie, the world's number one women's player, beat unseeded Julia Pei Xian Wong from Malaysia 21-17, 19-21, 21-19. The 55-minute match tied for the longest of the day. Lin, the top male player in the world, needed three games (21-11, 17-21, 21-14) to dispose of unseeded Thai player Vilailak Pakkawat.

The next matches went more smoothly for both of China's singles players. Lin has played twice since, beating Hsieh Yu Hsin of Chinese Taipei (21-18, 21-13) and Kozai Kazuteru of Japan (21-13, 21-12). Xie took out Yuswandari Aprillia of Indonesia, 21-10, 21-12.

The tournament runs through this Sunday.

Image: 98w.com.cn

Tags: badminton, Lin Dan, Xie Xingfang