TWICE-OLYMPIC champion Lin Dan survived a huge scare against India’s Kidambi Srikanth in the men’s badminton singles in Rio on Wednesday to set up a semifinal with Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei, the man he beat for the gold medal in Beijing and London.

    Lin, bidding for an unprecedented third successive title, was pushed to the limit in the 68-minute battle with world No. 11 Srikanth but ratcheted up the pressure in the deciding game to close out the match 21-6 11-21 21-18 at the Riocentro.

    Top seed Lee had a far easier run against Chou Tien-chen in the opening match and was never seriously tested by the Taiwanese during a 21-9 21-15 demolition.

    Third-ranked Lin’s seeding put him in Lee’s side of the draw, denying fans another battle royale in the gold medal-decider but Friday’s semifinal will pit two of the finest players of the modern era against each other in their Olympic swan song.

    Lee, 33, has beaten Lin in their past two meetings but has only tasted heartbreak in big tournaments against his Olympic nemesis. The Chinese dashed Lee’s hopes of a first gold in his final Asian Games at Incheon in 2014 and denied him twice in the final at the 2011 and 2013 world championships.

    “We’ve played in tournaments since but the Olympic arena is a bit different,” Lin said. “However you look at it, it’s a match-up between two players. We’ve all been working really hard these four years and are again at the Olympics, in a semi-final no less,” he added. “At least it proves that we two 33-year-old athletes can still compete at a high level.”

    Lee, the world No. 1 for much of his career, has been under huge pressure to deliver Malaysia’s first Olympic gold medal.

    China’s Chen Long edged South Korea’s Son Wan-ho 21-11 18-21 21-11 and will meet Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the other semifinal Friday. (SD-Agencies)