Lin Dan enters All England semifinals with ease

BIRMINGHAM - The top two seeds Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei both eased to the last four of the All-England Open championships on Friday and were likely to repeat their last year's final lineups.

China's Lin beat the Indonesian opponent Taufik Hidayat 2-0, aiming to claim his fifth title of this yearly event.

It was an eye-catching clash between the two Olympic champions in the men's singes, but the 2004 winner Taufik apparently couldn't find his peak form and energy again after recent years' low tides, losing to the 2008 titlist Lin in 21-18, 21-8.

"He played very well. It was the once familiar Taufik to me," said the 28-year-old Chinese.

While 30-year-old Taufik said: "I'm no longer young. Though losing the match, I enjoyed it, especially the first game."

Although the first game had some familiar tastes of their past top and classic clash, once second seed Lin Dan had pulled away at the end of it to take the lead, the Chinese four-time champion of the event quickly established a 9-0 lead in the second and Taufik was never going to be able to pull that back.

Chinese player Lin Dan strikes back during a match on All-England Open championships in Birmingham, March 9. [Photo/Xinhua]