Chinese top seeds march into quarter-finals in Singapore Open

Chinese top seeds Chen Long and Lin Dan successfully marched into quarter-finals on the third day of Singapore Open badminton tournament on Thursday.

Lin, world No.4, powered to a 21-13, 21-7 victory over Indonesia's Jonatan Christie in front of a boisterous audience.

Clearly being elated with what he saw in the stands, Lin said: "Today is my second match and I did not expect so many fans to turn up so I'm very happy and grateful to them."

"I tried my best to control my rhythm on the court. I came out and did quite well. I did not give my opponent any chance," he said.

Lin's quarter-final opponent will be 2013 Singapore Open champion Tommy Sugiarto.

Chen Long, who reached his maiden quarter-final berth in the tournament, survived an early scare, before he recovered to show why he is the sport's top shuttler.

Chen went down in his first game to two-time Singapore Open champion, Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana 17-21, before winning 21-18, 21-9 in the second and third game respectively and thus booked a quarter-final clash against Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong, China.

This is the first time that Chen has made the last eight of the Singapore Open after two previous, failed attempts.

Acknowledging that he was made to work for his victory, Chen said: "I think the match today was pretty tough. I lost a few points very carelessly and I didn' t focus."

"The opponent probably wanted to just win the second round and end the game but I wanted to drag another round so we were both on our best performances," he added.

In women's singles, last champion, Chinese player Sun Yu sent Japan's world No.4 and recent All-England champion Nozomi Okuhara home after a remarkable 21-16, 21-11 victory. Another Chinese player He Bingjiao also made into the quarter-finals.

Heavy favorite and world No.1 Carolina Marin also advanced to the quarter-finals after she downed her opponent, Nitchaon Jindapol of Thailand in straight sets 21-19, 21-15.