Fourth seed Lin Dan takes on seventh seed Chou Tien Chen in the Men's singles quarter-final of 2017 Badminton Asia Championships in Wuhan on Friday.
The four-time champion made light work of Japan's unseeded shuttler Kanta Tsuneyama 21-17, 21-15 in just 51 minutes in his second-round match yesterday. On the other hand, Chou prevailed in a marathon, hour-long R16 battle against Indonesia's Ihsan Maulana Mustofa 21-16, 17-21, 21-13.
Lin and Chou are coming head-to-head for the sixth time in their careers with the two-time Olympic champion winning four of them including their last meet at 2016 German Open. Given the recent form of the two shuttlers, it is the Chinese legend, who will start as favourite to reach the semi-final, in which he is expected to take on his arch-rival Lee Chong Wei.
Chou, after winning the Chinese Taipei Masters at home last year, had struggled to come up with good performances in the second half of last season but the 27-year-old has gone on to become one of the most consistent shuttlers in the new season.
After winning the German Open, the world number six also reached the semi-final of All England Championships and finished as runner-up at India Superseries earlier this month.
However, getting past Lin, who has hit peak form with a maiden title at Malaysia Superseries Premier earlier this month, will be a tough ask for Chou as the Chinese shuttler will be looking to continue winning momentum as he prepares himself for another showdown with Chong Wei.
TV Schedule
India: Star Sports
Malaysia: Astro Supersport 4
Singapore: Hub Sports
China: CCTV 5+
