Defending champion China and South Korea both secured Sudirman Cup semifinals slots after winning their respective matches on Tuesday.

China whitewashed Japan 5-0 in a lop-sided match, while South Korea overcame Denmark 4-1.

Olympic silver medallists Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng defeated Kenta Kazuno/Kenichi Hayakawa 21-14, 21-13 in the men's doubles to put the China 1-0 in front.

"Both sides played quite well today," said Fu Haifeng. "We haven't played with him before and that's why we were keeping pressing them. We did quite well and gave the opponents no chance."

Cai/Fu lost to Indonesian pair Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan at the Beijing Olympics and they look forward to revenging the defeat.

"We were familiar with Kido/Setiawan as we played too much times against each others," said Cai. "The winning chance is 50-50for both pairs and we will do our best."

In women's singles, Wang Yihan came from 4-12 behind to beat Mayu Sekiya 22-20 in the second set for a 21-14, 22-20 victory.

"This is my first time to play a team championship and I felt nervous," said Wang. "Maybe that's why I failed to adjust in the beginning. I will get myself well-prepared for next match."

Lin "Super" Dan stormed past Sho Sasaki 21-12, 21-13 in the men's singles to seal victory for China and ensured the country's 7th appearance in Sudirman Cup semifinals.

"I played better than I did on Sunday and it is good for me to face against Indonesia," said Lin. "I cherish this opportunity to play team matches. Being an Olympic champion is just history. I will fight four more years to defend my title."

Du Jing/Yu Yang paired to win the women's doubles match 21-10, 21-9, beating Mizuki Fukii/Reika Kakiiwa, while Zheng Bo/Ma Jin outclassed Noriyasu Hirata/Miyuki Maeda 21-11, 25-23 in the mixed doubles.

Denmark's only point came from Peter Gade, who defeated Park Sung Hwan in the men's singles.

Lee Yong Dae/Lee Hyo Jung had a good start by beating Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christina Pedersen.

India crushed Ukraine 5-0 to stay on course for Group 2 promotion while Thailand and Chinese Taipei each made it two wins out of two to keep alive thief hopes of promotion.

Scotland brushed aside Australia 5-0 after a narrow defeat to Ukraine. Mongolia suffered their third 0-5 loss as Portugal topped Group 4B.

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2009)