KUALA LUMPUR: In just five days, shuttler Lee Chong Wei has pulled off another incredible victory.
The unseeded Chong Wei staged a superb comeback to stun top seed Chen Long of China for the second time in less than a week at the Hong Kong Open in Kowloon.
Chong Wei won the quarter-final clash 13-21, 21-19, 21-15 in one hour and 25 minutes.
Chong Wei had defeated Chen Long 21-15, 21-11 in the final of the China Open on Sunday.
The 33-year-old Chong Wei will take on Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long in the men’s singles semi-finals on Saturday, but it’s the match against Chen Long that he will savour.
While Chong Wei was irresistible on Sunday, the match on Friday went down to the wire – especially the rubber game.
Seeking revenge, Chen Long powered his way with extra determination as he produced excellent court coverage and thundering smashes to take the opener.
The Malaysian stepped up a gear in the second game to take a 6-1 lead. But his joy was short-lived as Chen Long clawed his way back into the game to level it at 9-9 before pulling away to 18-13.
Just when everyone thought it was all over for Chong Wei, the Malaysian navigated his way back to level the score at 19-19 before romping home.
The decider was intense, with both fighting tooth and nail until 13-13 before Chong Wei used his solid defence and powerful attacking shots to nick his 11th win over world No. 1 Chen Long in 23 meetings.
National coach Tey Seu Bock was impressed with Chong Wei’s consistency.
“He got off to a jittery start. He was too careful and made quite a number of mistakes ... resulting in him losing focus,” said Seu Bock.
“I’m glad he recovered quickly. Chen Long is getting more frustrated now with Chong Wei’s different styles of play.”
The other men’s singles semi-final will be between China’s Tian Houwei and Indonesia’s Ginting Anthony.
There was no joy for Malaysia in the men’s doubles when Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong crashed out in the quarter-finals, losing 15-21, 12-21 to China’s Chai Biao-Hong Wei.
With this defeat, the duo have ended the year without making the semi-finals of any Superseries tournament.
