JAKARTA: Lee Chong Wei has a clear path of reaching the men’s singles final of the Badminton World Championships after five-time champion Lin Dan of China was ousted by Dane Jan O Jorgensen today.
The 33-year-old Malaysian made the semi-finals when he overcame Hong Kong’s Hu Yun 21-12, 21-18 in 35 minutes.
The World No 44 will play second seed Jorgensen who tamed Lin Dan 21-12, 21-15 in 37 minutes.
Fans were hoping to see Lin Dan take on Chong Wei in the last four but the China ace was far from his best against the World No 2 Jorgensen.
“I played my best match today. It is a good sign as I will be up against a tough opponent in the semi-finals. I will treat it like a final,” said Chong Wei today.
“Hu Yun was a different player today…he was more aggressive but I was prepared for him. I controlled the front of the court and also focused on every point.”
World No 1 Chen Long of China will meet former world junior champion Kento Momota of Japan in the other semi-final tomorrow.
Chen Long battled for 70 minutes to secure a 21-18, 30-29 victory over Dane Viktor Axelsen while the World No 4 Momota blanked Wei Nan of Hong Kong 21-6, 21-14.
Amelia Alicia Anscelly-Soong Fie Cho’s gallant run in the women’s doubles ended today following a 21-11, 21-11 defeat to Indonesia’s Nitya Krishinda Maheswari-Greysia Polii in the quarter-finals.
“We did not produce our best performance today. Our opponents were too good. It was tough to earn points as they were strong defensively.
“It has been a good experience for us here and hopefully, we can build from this for future events,” said Amelia.
The Malaysians will play in the Vietnam Grand Prix next.
Results
Q-finals
Men's singles : Kento Momota (Jpn) bt Wei Nan (Hkg) 21-6, 21-14; Chen Long (Chn) bt Viktor Axelsen (Den) 21-18, 30-29; Lee Chong Wei (Mas) bt Hu Yun (Hkg) 21-12, 21-18; Jan O Jorgensen (Den) bt Lin Dan (Chn) 21-12. 21-15.
Doubles : Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan (Chn) bt Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen (Den) 21-15, 21-9; Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) bt Marcus Ellis-Chris Langridge (Eng) 21-16, 22-20; Lee Yong Dae-Yoo Yeon Seong (Kor) bt Fu Haifeng-Zhang Nan (Chn) 21-15, 21-18; Hiroyuki Endo-Kenichi Hayakawa (Jpn) bt Angga Pratama-Ricky Karanda Suwardi (Ina) 21-17, 14-21, 21-18.
Women's singles : Carolina Marin (Spa) bt Wang Shixian (Chn) 21-17, 21-19; Lindaweni Fanetri (Ina) bt Tai Tzu Ying (Tai) 14-21, 22-20, 21-12; Sung Ji Hyun (Kor) bt PV Sindhu (Ind) 21-17, 19-21, 21-16; saina Nehwal (Ind) bt Wang Yihan (Chn) 21-15, 19-21, 21-19.
Doubles : Naoko Fukuman-Kurumi Yonao (Jpn) bt Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa (Ind) 25-23, 21-14;Nitya Krishinda Maheswari-Greysia Polii (Ina) bt Amelia Alicia Anscelly-Soong Fie Cho (Mas) 21-11, 21-11; Christinna Pedersen-Kamillia Rytter Juhl (Den) bt Go Ah Ra-Yoo Hae Won (Kor) 21-8, 21-10;Tian Qing-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Wang Xiaoli-Yu Yang (Chn) 21-17, 21-13.
Mixed doubles : Xu Chen-Ma Jin (Chn) bt Jacco Arends-Selena Piek (Ned) 21-9, 21-18; Ahmad Tontowi-Liliyana Natsir (Ina) bt Ko Sung Hyun-Kim Ha Na (Kor) 21-8, 21-15;Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Praveen Jordan-Debby Susanto (Ina) 21-13, 21-14; Liu Cheng-Bao Yixin (Chn) bt Chris Adcock-Gabrielle Adcock (Eng) w/o.