Second seed Lin Dan brushed aside Malaysia's Hashim Hafiz 21-10, 21-9 to advance to the semifinals of the World Badminton Championships on Friday.

Lin will next play his Chinese teammate, the fifth seed Chen Hong who beat Peter Gade of Denmark 21-17, 15-21, 21-12 in the quarterfinals.

"I played a compact game today and tried to finish the match as soon as possible, so I pushed myself very hard in very point," the 22-year-old said.

The coast seems to be clear for Lin to win his first World Championships title after reigning titles Taufik Hidayat and top seed Lee Chongwei fell by the wayside.

"I don't care they win or lose, and whatever their performance, I only want to concentrate on my own game. The World Championships title means a lot to me," he said.

In the other semifinal, the seventh seed Bao Chunlai, who toppled Lee 22-20, 12-21, 21-18, will play Lee Hyun Ii of South Korea, the 21-14, 19-21, 21-12 winner over third seed Chinese upstart Chen Jin.

This is the first time for Chinese shuttlers to grab three of the four semifinal slots in men's singles competition.

"This is a telling sign of our supremacy in the men's singles, we are strong enough to beat anybody," Lin said.

(CRI September 23, 2006)