LEE Chong Wei survived some anxious moments while Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong rose from the brink of defeat against veteran Danish pair Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen to advance into the semi-finals of the China Open in Shanghai yesterday.
Chong Wei, the top seed, was not expected to struggle against compatriot Wong Choong Hann but had to work extra hard to clinch a 21-19, 19-21, 21-10 win in 57 m i n u t e s.
Choong Hann had threatened to show ChongWei the exit when he led 13-8 in the first game but the latter managed to claw back for a 21-19 win, However, it was Chong Wei’s turn to follow the same path as he let slip a 15-11 lead in the second to lose 21-19 but the third game was never in doubt.
South Korean Park Sung Hwan did ChongWei a favour by eliminating third seed Chen Jin of China 21-11, 13-21, 21-18 in 65 m i n u t e s.
However, Chong Wei cannot afford to continue his average performance as Sung Hwan will be in the mood for another big scalp t o d ay.
Second seed Lin Dan of China hardly faced any problems as he defeated compatriot Du Pengyu 21-13, 21-16 and will play another local shuttler Wen Kai next.
Kien Keat-Boon Heong were staring at the exit after losing the first game 19-21 and trailing 18-20 in the second but bounced back to secure a 19-21, 22-20, 21-14 victory in 58 minutes.
Kien Keat-Boon Heong’s job gets tougher as they take on Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae of South Korea, who ended Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah’s run with a 21-13, 21-16 win, in the last four t o d ay.
However, it was the end of the road for Zakry Latif-Fairuzizuan Tazari who allowed Denmark’s Mathias Boe-Carsten Morgensen advance through their own tardiness as they fell 20-22, 21-18, 24-22 in 61 minutes.
Zakry-Fairuz had a solid start in the first game as they took a 7-1 lead but could only win 22-20 due to unforced errors and the trend continued in the second game.
