Malaysia Open: Lee Chong Wei trounces Taufik Hidayat to reach into Men’s Singles semi-final
Malaysia’s top shuttler, Lee Chong Wei, continues his roller-coaster run as he has reserved his berth in Men’s Singles semi-final after trouncing Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat in quarter-final contest of the 2012 Malaysia Open Super Series on Friday, January
13, in Malaysia.
The World Number One Chong Wei remains on the right track in a bid to win his eighth Malaysian Open title. In the quarter-final battle, Malaysian shuttler showed no respect to Taufik and ended the match in straight games.
The Indonesian failed to play dominating badminton against the top seeded Malaysian player and lost the match without taking a single game. Chong Wei took just 34 minutes to crush his opponent and reached into semi-final.
In the opening set of this contest, Chong Wei showed his higher class and remained ahead of Taufik in the whole game. He was in wonderful control of rallies and ended it with a stunning 21-9 margin on the score board.
The former Olympic and World Champion Taufik could not cope up with the aggression and speed of his higher ranked rival in first game and lost it in a completely one-sided fashion.
However, in the following set, Taufik showed glimpses of his brilliance as he played with precision. His powerful shots landed in the right areas and he remained dominant in opening half of the set.
In the second half, Chong Wei increased his speed and managed to level the score by reaching at the concluding phase. His powerful smashes and incredible speed disturbed the flow of Taufik at this stage.
With his positive play, Chong Wei took the second set with a decent score of 21-18. The final result of this 34-minute quarter-final encounter was 21-9 and 21-18.
While talking about his semi-final clash with Chen Long of China, the Malaysian said that he is ready to grab the eighth title in this home tournament.
He said, “Lin Dan has lost and the next strongest player in the China camp is Chen Long. He is young and aggressive but I am fired up to win my eighth home title.”
The fans from around the world are expecting a thrilling battle between Chong Wei and Chen Long, who are considered as the most aggressive and experienced shuttlers in the arena of badminton.
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