KUALA LUMPUR: World No.1 Lee Chong Wei stayed on course for a record-breaking ninth Malaysia Open title when he crushed Hong Kong’s Hu Yun in the quarterfinals yesterday.
The Malaysian, who is tied with Wong Peng Soon on eight Malaysia Open titles, beat his opponent 21-12, 21-9 and now will face Denmark’s Jan O Jorgensen in Saturday’s semi-finals at Putra Stadium in the capital Kuala Lumpur .
Jorgensen, who prevented an all-Malaysia semifinal when he took three games to beat Daren Liew 19-21, 21-13, 21-17 Friday, predicted a tough match against Lee.
“Playing with Chong Wei will be like playing against a superhero in Malaysia. It is his home, and he rarely loses in Malaysia but I will try my best because that is all I can do,” said Jorgensen, who has only one Superseries title from winning the Denmark Open in 2010.
Lee, who has 29 Superseries titles, said he was surprised Jorgensen won the quarterfinal and was on his guard.
“I thought Daren could have beaten Jorgensen as he had never lost to him before today,” Lee said. “Jorgensen is strong in his attack, and I will be extra careful with him tomorrow.” The other semi-final is between Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Japan’s Kenichi Tago.
Denmark’s defending champions and top seeds Christinna Pedersen/Kamilla Rytter Juhl crashed out after a 21-10, 21-18 defeat to newly formed Chinese pair Bao Yixin/Tian Qing.
“It was our fault that we lost today. We did not have much energy and we were really tired. We were so close, but we could not move as fast as the Chinese,” Rytter Juhl said, adding her partner had been sick since last week’s Korea Open.
And there was more bad news for Denmark, as former All-England champion Tine Baun was shown the exit in the women’s singles by Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, 18.
The Japan Open champion, who is seeded sixth, outplayed her more experienced opponent 22-20, 21-15 to set-up a semifinal date with Saina Nehwal of India.
The Indian top seed reached the last four when her opponent Nozomi Okuhara of Japan hurt her knee in the rubber game and had to withdraw.
The score at that time was 21-11,14-21, 2-0 in Nehwal’s favor.
Lee cruises to Malaysia Open last four stage
