Top seed Lee closer to third All England title
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E-mail Xinhua, March 9, 2013
Malaysian ace player Lee Chong Wei secured his position in last four on Friday, one more step closer to his third All England Open title.
With progression of the championships, Lee was regaining his dominance. His 21-17, 21-19 victory over seventh seed Tien Minh Nguyen only took him 34 minutes.
Lee grabbed the lead from the first shot, maneuvering the shuttle to different corners and earning points with forceful smashes and kills at the net.
Although he made a few mistakes which allowed his rival to save four match points, he managed to finish the match with a jump smash.
However, he was dissatisfied with his own performance. "I still couldn't fully control the tempo," Lee said. "I made some simple mistakes, but I must forget about it and move on."
Currently his biggest opponent could be Chinese shuttler Chen Long, who edged out Indian Kashyap Parupalli 21-16 and 21-10.
Chen dominated the court, making agile defenses and serving well-masked drops throughout the game.
"I think I played well in the match," he said. "The second set was better and easier."
The women's singles action for Chinese saw third seeded Wang Shixian ousted by Indian Saina Nehwal 23-21, 21-19, 21-16.
The 23-year-old Wang, All England champion in 2011, seemed to have lost patience at the crucial third set. With the last shot hurried into the net, she had to stop in the quarter-finals.
Olympic gold medalist and defending champion Li Xuerui and world champion Wang Yihan started the downturn of the Chinese team as they fell at the first round on Wednesday.
Less known Chinese Han Li was defeated by veteran Danish Tine Baun while Wang Shixian edged out her teammate Jiang Yanjiao before she was beaten.
In the men's doubles, the only Chinese pair Liu Xiaolong and Qiu Zihan crossed another hurdle, while all three Chinese women's doubles teams made it to the semifinals.
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