Kuala Lumpur: World No. 6 Lee Chong Wei’s remarkable run continued as he booked his quarter-final berth at the 2018 Malaysia Open with a 21-7, 21-7 win over 38-year-old Lee Hyun Il of Korea on Thursday.
The 36-year-old Lee, who is gunning for a record 12th Malaysia Open title will face World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen in the quarter-finals.
“Axelsen is the World No. 1 player, so, I have nothing to lose playing against him. I am going to give my best in the quarter-final,” said Lee.
“I would like to win my 12th Malaysia Open title here and set a record that no one can break.”
Lee also praised Lee Hyun Il for his active participation in international badminton tournaments.
“Lee Hyun Il is my senior in the sport and I am amazed by the fighting spirit he showed,” added Lee.
Axelsen, on the other hand, was made to fight tooth and nail but showed glimpses of his best badminton, prevailing over Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk from Thailand 23-21, 19-21, 21-11 in a 68 minutes battle
Meanwhile, the defending Malaysia Open champion Lin Dan suffered a stunning loss when he was knocked out by teammate and No. 3 seed Shi Yuqi 19-21, 12-21 in 41 minutes. This was Lin’s fourth defeats to Shi in their fifth career meetings.
In men’s doubles, Malaysia’s Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong rallied to upset World No. 2 Liu Cheng/Zhang Nan of China 21-14, 21-23, 21-17 to advance to the quarter-finals. Goh/Tan are set to take on No. 6 seeds Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda on Friday.
“We are really excited with our performance today. Support from the crowd really boosted our spirit,” said Goh.
However, although Malaysia’s young men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik showed deep reserves of resiliency in stretching the World No. 1 pair Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia to their limit, they couldn’t pull off an upset to go down 18-21, 28-30.
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo will meet He Jiting/Tan Qiang of China in the last eight.
