Fuzhou: Lee Chong Wei took plenty of positives away from the China Open despite his quarter-final loss to Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong.
The No. 7 seed Lee handed an easy first set win to Ng, but stormed through the second set against the unseeded Hong Kong player and came within two points of winning the match at 19-19 in the third set. Ng was more aggressive in the decisive third set against Lee, leading to his stunning 21-12, 15-21, 21-19 victory over Lee.
When asked about how he dealt with his recent defeats, Lee remained positive and calm.
“The most important thing is to know the weaknesses found in my games, and I think I did reasonably well at China Open,” said Lee.
“My confidence took a dip after my losses in Europe, I couldn’t find my rhythm, but I definitely recovering and getting better,” added Lee.
This was Ng’s first win against Lee in their 6th career meetings. Ng will play No. 1 seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the semi-finals.
“It was a tough match. I feel like Lee was not as quick and as aggressive as before,” said Ng.
Axelsen enjoyed a comfortable run in the China Open quarter-finals, after beating No. 5 seed Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan 21-17, 21-14.
In the other men’s singles semi-final, the No. 2 seed Son Wan-Ho of South Korea will play No. 6 seed Chen Long on Saturday.
After losing the opening game, women’s singles No. 8 seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand raised her level to upset No. 1 seed Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan in a three-set thriller, winning 10-21, 21-9, 22-20 in 56 minutes. Intanon will play Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi and Carolina Marin of Spain faces the Chinese qualifier Gao Fangjie in the women’s singles semi-finals.
