Second seeds Cai/Fu into semi-final of badminton men's doubles at Beijing Olympics

Second seeds Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng from China didn't face much challenge from Howard Bach and Bob Malaythong from the United States in an Olympic badminton quarter-final, crushing them 21-9, 21-10 here on Wednesday.

The U.S. pair enjoyed a lucky draw by beating an obscure pair from South Africa in the first round, and set a record for the United States in Olympic badminton tournament with the quarter-final berth.

Bach and Malaythong, however, failed to charge real competition to the mighty Chinese pair as their defence was easily penetrated by Fu's powerful shots, and their paces on the court could not follow the speed of the opponents.

"Every rally is 50 to 50, but they seized most of the chances," said Malaythong who was apparently dissatisfied with the wide score.

"They are obviously one of the hottest teams at the tournament," said Bach, the 2005 world champion pairing with Indonesian badminton legend Tony Gunawan.

Cai and Fu showed their strong confidence in themselves from the very beginning. "Even when the score was tied at 9-9 in the second game, we didn't feel shaky," said Cai.

The world No.3 will meet Lee Jae Jin and Hwang Ji Man in the semifinal, over whom they had some edge in previous head-to-head encounters.

"Attitude and confidence will be the predominant factors in the semi-final, while the tactics will be second to them," said Fu, the fastest shuttler in the world.

北京时间8月13日，2008北京奥运会羽毛球比赛展开第四日争夺，在刚刚结束的一场男双1/4决赛中，二号种子、中国“风云组合”蔡赟/傅海峰发挥出色，仅耗时27分钟，便以2-0（21-9、21-10）战胜了美国组合巴赫/马莱通，顺利挺进男双四强，喜迎奥运两连胜。

上轮，蔡赟/付海峰发挥出色，以2-0轻松战胜了丹麦组合埃里克森／伦加德，正是后者在雅典奥运会上将蔡赟/付海峰淘汰出局，两人上演了完美的复仇，而随着中国二号男双谢中博/郭振东，在昨日被头号种子、印尼著名组合塞蒂亚万/基多淘汰出局，两人因此肩负了极大的夺金重任。

比赛一开始，蔡赟/傅海峰两人配合默契，进入状态很快，网前扑杀、后场劈杀连续得手，很快取得8-1的完美开局。之后，势头不减，很快以11-2领先进入局间休息，休息归来后，巴赫/马莱通形势依旧极为被动，站位上完全被中国组合压制住，蔡赟/傅海峰很快以17-7基本锁定了第一局胜利，最终以21-9轻松赢下首局。

第二局，美国组合的状态有所起色，开局同中国组合激战成5平。之后，蔡赟/傅海峰依靠稳健的发挥，慢慢取得了优势，以11-9领先进入局间休息，互换场地后，蔡赟/傅海峰通过丰富球路变化、加强回球质量，完全赢得了主动，很快取得16-9的大比分领先优势。美国组合显得极为慌乱，被调动得疲于奔命，蔡赟/傅海峰最终以21-10赢下了第二局，总比分2-0完胜对手，昂首挺进男双四强。