CHINA TOPIX

12/23/2024 06:16:26 am

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Badminton: Lee Chong Wei Advances to the Last Four of the Indonesia Open

lee chong wei

(Photo : gettyimages.com) Chong Wei moved another step closer in claiming his sixth Indonesia Open title and advance forward in reclaiming the highest spot in the BWF’s world rankings.


Tournament's second-seeded, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, easily cruised to the semifinal round of the ongoing BCA Indonesia Open 2016 badminton event at the Istola Galera Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Friday.


Chong Wei, the incumbent second highest-ranked men's singles shuttler in the world, defeated the current world No.18, Wang Zhengming of China, in their quarterfinal match after the 26-year-old right-handed Chinese badminton player was forced to retire in the second set due to a hamstring injury.

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The 33-year-old Malaysian won the first game 21-16 and was leading in the second set 9-2 when Wang decided to pull out from the match.

The victory takes Chong Wei, who is gunning to become the sport's world No. 1 once again, one step closer to claiming his sixth Indonesia Open title, which paves the way for him to reclaim the highest spot in the BWF's world rankings.

The reigning world No.1, Chen Long of China, was forced to withdraw from the Jakarta-based World Super Series Premier tournament due to injury.

"I want to maintain my consistency. I will try to fight to get the No. 1 ranking back before I go to the Olympics (in Rio de Janeiro in August). If I can't, I want to at least maintain my No. 2 ranking. I want a good seeding at the Olympic draw," Chong Wei said.

Chong Wei will be facing 20-year-old Ihsan Maulana Mustofa of Indonesia in the last four. Mustofa, who currently holds the 29th spot in the world rankings, got the better of world No. 15, Rajiv Ouseph of England, with a 17-21, 21-12, 21-12 victory on Friday.

"Everyone says Chong Wei has a good chance to win now that all his toughest challengers have lost. But it's not easy. He still needs to stay focused on getting through one match at a time," said the national singles coach Hendrawan,

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