as a semi-finalist at the Indonesia Open. 2005 Lin retained his number one world ranking during 2005, winning his second German and Hong Kong Open titles, as well as the Japan Open, China Masters, and World Cup tournaments. He also helped China recapture the Sudirman Cup (combined men's and women's team championship) when it shut-out both defending champion South Korea in the semifinals and Indonesia in the final. Lin failed to retain his All England title, losing a three set final to teammate Chen Hong, and he was beaten in the final of the Malaysia Open by another rising star, Lee Chong Wei. In his bid to capture his first BWF World title at Anaheim California, he beat Kennevic Asuncion, Shoji Sato, Lee Hyun-il, and Peter Gade in succession to reach the final. There he was decisively beaten by a peak-form Taufik Hidayat. Lin was also eliminated in the semifinals of the Singapore Open and the quarterfinals of the China Open. 2006 Lin started the season by reaching the semifinals of the German Open, and had a same result in China Masters and China Open. He failed to win the Malaysia Open in June, which saw his opponent Lee Chong Wei produce a superb display to save the title after being 13–20 down in the deciding game, and also lost to Taufik Hidayat in Asian Games final. However, he won six individual titles in the season. He recaptured the All England Open, and won the Chinese Taipei, Macau, Hong Kong, and Japan Opens. Most significantly, in Madrid, Spain that September he won his first world title after beating his compatriot Bao Chunlai in the final. In May, Lin and his teammates had extended China's Thomas Cup reign by shutting out Denmark 3–0 for a second consecutive title. 2007 Lin Dan entered 2007 with a loss to South Korea's Park Sung-hwan in the round of 16 at the Malaysia Open. A week later he captured the Korea Open by defeating Chinese teammate Chen Jin in the final. He went on to win the German Open and then the All England championships again, crushing compatriot Chen Yu 21–13, 21–12. In June, Lin Dan was part of the Chinese Sudirman Cup team that retained the cup after beating Indonesia 3–0 in the final at Glasgow, Scotland. Later in the season Lin Dan defeated Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia and became the China Masters