Malaysian badminton player Lee Chong Wei (L) shake hands with Srikanth Kidambi (R) after defeating his Indian counterpart with 2-0 at 2018 Badminton Asia Championships in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, April 27, 2018. [Photo/VCG]
Malaysia's most decorated shuttler Lee Chong Wei repeated his victory over Srikanth Kidambi at the Badminton Asia Championships on April 27, easing past the India's top player 21-12, 21-15 to reach the semifinal.
Lee, seeded fifth, beat Srikanth to clinch his third Commonwealth Games title in Gold Coast, Australia earlier this month.
"Srikanth didn't play at his level today, too many errors in the game. It was different from our last meet at the Commonwealth Games," the 35-year-old Malaysian said.
"I was upset about my performance today, Lee played very well. I did badly in net lifts and drives, and moved slowly on the court," Srikanth said of his defeat.
Next up for Lee is Japanese star Kento Momota, who needed only 39 minutes to dispatch seventh-seeded Chou Tien Chen 21-5, 21-13 and advance.
The other semifinal will be played between home favorite Chen Long and India's H.S. Prannoy.
Defending champion Chen, seeded third, celebrated a hard-fought victory, bouncing back from one game down to eliminate eighth-seeded Ng Ka Long Angus 22-24, 21-15, 21-17 to move on. It is almost a repeat of last year's match-up between the two in the tournament, where Chen defeated Angus at the same stage on the same court.
The two players traded the lead six times in the thrilling decider. Chen lost five points when leading by 13-9, and then won five points in a row to reclaim the lead. Although he missed the first two match points at 20-15, he eventually wrapped up the match in one hour 26 minutes.
"I didn't play well when taking the lead on the court, made too many mistakes. But anyway, winning a close game like this can always make me happy," the 29-year-old said.
Chen went into the match with a strong start, taking a 11-6 lead before the break in the first game. But he then committed too many unforced errors, which left chances open to his rivals. Angus took four points in a row when he trailed by 18-16 and eventually concluded the first set 24-22.
"In the first game, I was in the lead most of the time. I thought I should have won it, but I failed," Chen said.
The 2016 Rio Olympic champion fell behind by 11-8 before the break in the second game. But he bounced back in time and strengthened his attacks to give his opponent more pressure, which worked well. Chen took the game with four straight points to force a decider.
In the women's singles action, top seed Tai Tzu Ying cruised past home star He Bingjiao 21-14, 21-9 to set a semifinal against India's Saina Nehwal, who knocked out Lee Jang Mi of South Korea 21-15, 21-13.
Another home player Chen Yufei, sixth seed, overcame her Hong Kong compatriot Cheung Ngan Yi 21-18, 21-12. She will take on seventh seed Sung Ji Hyun of South Korea, who defeated India's Pusarla V.Sindhu 21-19, 21-10 in another semifinal.
