China's current world No. 1 Chen Long secured a championship showdown against home crowd favorite Lee Chong Wei in the men's singles final at the Celcom Axiata Malaysian Open after both elite professional badminton players emerged as the victors of their respective semifinal clashes on Saturday at the Malawati Stadium, Shah Alam.

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Chen, who was the defending champion of the tournament, pulled through a scare and scooped a victory over the 18-year-old Indonesian and current world No. 37 Christie Jonatan 8-21, 21-19 and 21-14. Following his first set lost, the 27-year-old Chinese bounced back in the second set after lagging behind at 16-19, and dominated the third set to claim the match, according to Xinhua.

"Playing so many games make you hard to be on a good shape in every single match," Chen, who a two-time world champion, said. "But I was lucky today."

The 2012 Summer Olympic bronze medalist acknowledged that the Malaysian crowd, who will surely be rooting for their countryman, will be doing their best to distract him and that he will be trying his very best to prove them wrong.

While in the other semifinal match, incumbent BWF's world No. 5 Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark bowed out to the former world No. 1 Lee and lost the match in two straight sets 21-7, 21-14.

The elite Malaysian shuttler will be gunning for his eleventh Malaysian Open title and admitted that Chen will be a tough opponent. The 33-year-old Lee, who dropped to become the 4^th best badminton player in the world after suffering early eliminations in the All England and Indian Open, sealed his semifinal round triumph in just 35 minutes.

"I have to be patient against him (Chen Long) and can't be constantly on the attack. He is a tall player and has good court coverage, but I will have the backing of home support to hopefully see me over the finish line." Lee told.

Tagsbwf rankings, bwf 2016, celcom axiata malaysian open, Chen Long, Lee Chong Wei, Cristie Jonatan, jan o jorgensen