Badminton: 'Super Dan' advances as Thai Open begins

(BEIJING, June 25) -- World No. 1 Lin Dan, nicknamed "Super Dan", scored a three-game victory over Pakkawat Vilailak of Thailand as the opening round of the badminton SCG Thailand Grand Prix Gold 2008 got underway on June 25.

With many of badminton's big guns, like freshly crowned Singapore Open winner and world No.2 Lee Chong Wei, world No.3 Chen Jin and No.4 Bao Chunlai skipping the tournament, Lin is the only world top