The incumbent world No. 2, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, successfully earned his ticket to the Finals of the ongoing BCA Indonesia Open 2016 badminton tournament and strengthened his bid to regain the top spot in the world rankings at the Istola Galera Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Saturday.

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Chong Wei, the second highest-seeded men's singles shuttler in the World Super Series Premier event, which has a top prize of US $900,000, got the better of current world No. 29, Ihsan Maulana Mustofa of Indonesia, in a two straight set 21-9, 21-18 victory. The two-time Olympic silver medalist wrapped up the semifinal match in just 40 minutes.

The victory takes 33-year-old Chong Wei a step closer to reclaiming the spot he used to hold from 2006 through 2014 before serving an eight-month suspension due to a doping violation.

The Malaysian badminton ace has garnered enough rankings points to take the place of the current world No.1, China's Chen Long, who was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to an injury, on Thursday when the BWF releases its latest ranking update.

The two-time Olympic men's singles silver medalist currently sits in the second place with 88,953 points, just a slim 3,241 points behind the Chinese shuttler, who has 92,194 points to his name. Chong Wei is already assured to receive at least 9,350 points as the event's runner-up or an upper limit of 11,000 points if he bags the title.

"Chong Wei will definitely overtake Chen Long as the world No.1 after making the final," Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) secretary Ng Chin Chai confirmed. "It is quite an achievement for Chong Wei to be back as the No. 1. He has put in a lot of hard work and it's well deserved," Chin Chai added.

Chong Wei will be facing world No. 5, Jan O. Jorgensen of Denmark, in the championship round. The 28-year-old Danish defeated the sixth-seeded, Tian Houwei of China, in their semifinal matchup 21-14, 18-21, 21-17.

TagsLee Chong Wei, Chen Long, bwf, bwf rankings, bca indonesia open 2016, Indonesia Open, badminton, bca indonesia open