Group 1A to meet Indonesia in the semifinals at the Sudirman Cup badminton tournament Thursday in a match marred by a tragic incident that Tine Rasmussen injured her ankle in the women's singles against Seo Yoon Hee.

Rasmussen was leading at 3-2 in the second set when the 26-year-old twisted her left ankle and painfully dropped to the court.

Doctor put icebag on her ankle and Rasmussen was rushed to the hospital soon after.

"We hope Tine is OK. It is very sad. We have to wait and see," Jonas Rasmussen said after his men's doubles victory.

South Korea then received the walkover win to level the score at 1-1.

World number three Peter Gade, on bench in the past two days, opened the night's battle for Denmark but was outpaced by South Korea's Lee Hyung Il, ranked 22nd in the world, in the opening set 15-9.

The Dane, enjoying huge popularity in China, gradually found his form when he scraped to win a seesaw second set 15-12 before clinching the first point for Denmark with a 15-6 third set win in 91 minutes.

"At first he was not sure of the wind condition because there was strong wind in the hall. After he overcame that, he can concentrate," said Denmark's head coach Steen Pedersen.

It was reigning Korea Open champion Gade's fifth win over Lee in their eight meetings and Gade admitted it was a hard one.

"It was my first game in this Sudirman Cup and it was very difficult, the spectators and the tension. It was serious," said the 28-year-old.

"I worked very hard in the second set, kept fighting and fighting and fighting. When I won the second set, I thought I had good chance to win the third," he said.

Denmark took the lead again as their men's doubles Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen made an easy victory over Kim Dong Moon and Ha Tae Kwon 15-11, 15-3.

"We were surprised that we made so many easy mistakes but the other side also had many mistakes so we know we just needed keep fighting and pushing on. We knew we could do it," said Rasmussen.

But Denmark soon lost their advantage in the fourth match where world number women's pair Lee Kyung Won and Lee Hyo Jung made easy work in winning Helle Nielsen and Pernille Harder, ranked 12th in the world, 15-7, 15-7 in 37 minutes.

Jens Eriksen with Kamilla Rytter Juhl replacing his world number three partner Mette Schjoldager fought a determined battle against Lee Jae Jin and returning world Ra Kyung Min.

The Dannish duo sailed to a 15-7 and 15-2.

Denmark plays Indonesia on Saturday while host China meets defending champion South Korea.

Source: Xinhua