Badminton: International stars dominate as Kiwis bow out of NZ Badminton Open

Lin Dan of China plays a return shot. Photo / Getty Images

International stars took control at day three of the New Zealand Badminton Open, as the remaining Kiwi contenders bowed out heading into Friday's quarterfinals.

Tournament drawcard Lin Dan of China showed his class again but the world number seven and two-time Olympic gold medalist needed all his 18 years' experience on tour to defeat 16-year-old Indian world number 108 Lakshya Sen in three games in the men's singles.

The young Indian prospect took the opening game, but in the process woke the giant, with Lin finding his range to power to the win 21-12 in the third.

"My opponent played very well today, he was 18 years younger than me, so today I wanted to prove I can beat the next generation of younger players. Today I showed that I have the determination to fight and win," said Lin.

"I did have the lead in the first game, but he went on to win. For me it was changing my mentality in the second and third games in order to succeed in what was a tough match."

Kiwi Abhinav Manota lost in the men's singles, going down in straight games to Sri Lanka's Niluka Karunaratn.

Manota offered no excuses, paying tribute to his opponent while also espousing the virtues of the tournament.

"It was just him, he played better than me today and I couldn't keep up with the pace, I think it was just a bad day for me.

"Overall, I am happy with my performance, but it just wasn't my day today."

It was a similar story for the young men's doubles pairing of Oscar Guo and Dacmen Vong, as they were defeated in straight games by Thailand's Isara and Phuangphuapet, the fourth seeds winning 21-12, 21-15.

17-year-old Guo was clearly disappointed to lose the match but took plenty from the week.

"I was pleased with how we played and managed to impose our game into the rallies and give them a good fight. We need to go away and work on our strength and finishing rallies, but we have many years to keep coming back to play at this tournament."

Quarterfinals get underway at the North Shore Events Centre on Friday at 5pm.