World champion Lin Dan beaten in Japan

TOKYO, Sept 15 (Reuters) China's world badminton champion Lin Dan lost to Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei in the semi-finals of the Japan Open Super Series today.

He went down 21-19 21-15 to the Malyasian, who also beat Lin the last time they met in the Sudirman Cup in Glasgow in June.

Lin recovered from that setback to retain his world title in Kuala Lumpur last month when Lee failed to fulfil the huge expectations of his home support and lost in the third round.

His opponent in tomorrow's final will be Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat who defeated Indonesian compatriot Simon Santoso 21-14 21-16.

Taufik suffered an early exit in the world championships and will be keen to get back on track. In last year's Japan Open final he lost to Lin in three games.

Tomorrow's women's final pitches unseeded Dane Tine Rasmussen against China's Xie Xingfang.

REUTERS TB RK1340