World badminton champion Lin Dan withdrew from the Japan Open on Saturday with an injured left foot, giving his teammate Chen Long a free ticket to the men\'s singles final.

Second-seeded Lin Dan of China at a Japan Open press conference on September 24

The Chinese second seed, the sport\'s biggest name and the winner in Tokyo in 2004 and 2005, said the skin on his left foot came off after a tough match against another teammate, Chen Jin, in the quarter-finals on Friday.

"I was disappointed that I could not continue playing, but we have more tournaments for the race for the London Olympics, so I don\'t want to take a risk now," said Lin.

"This is not the only event that counts towards the Olympics. The race continues until May next year. I\'m going to play solidly in each tournament. I promise that I will come back next year in better form," he added.

In the women\'s singles, Juliane Schenk defeated Indian star Saina Nehwal to set up a final against world champion Wang Yihan of China.

The German eighth seed, who eliminated All England champion Wang Shixian of China in the quarter-finals, gained another major scalp with a 21-19, 21-10 victory over the fourth seed.

Wang Yihan was given a walkover into the final as fellow Chinese Liu Xin withdrew with a left leg injury.

For Schenk, 28, it will be her first final in the Super Series.

"I\'m quite happy with my performance today. It\'s perfect for me to get into my first Super Series final," said Schenk, who gained momentum after taking the close first game.

"Saina is a very powerful player. She was trying to play a lot of attacking shots and trying to put pressure with those things. I tried just to speed up and move her around four corners."

About the final against Wang Yihan, the German said: "Like all the other matches, I would like to enjoy playing my best and showing the spectators a big entertainment. I hope I can continue like this."