# World No 1 Chong Wei stays on track for his fourth All-England title
# World No 1 V Shem-Wee Kiong flop in quarter-finals in men’s doubles
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By Rizal Abdullah
There were three Malaysians as World No 1 and top seeds in this year’s Yonex All-England Badminton Championships in Birmingham – Datuk Lee Chong Wei in the men’s singles and Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong in the men’s doubles.
However, after the completion of the quarter-final matches at Barclaycard Arena on Friday only Chong Wei is left standing and looks good enough to win his fourth title in the world’s oldest badminton tournament.
The prestigious All-England Championships – a Super Series Premier event -offering USD600,000 in prize money, is the most sought after badminton title in the badminton world.
V Shem-Wee Kiong, however, failed to live up to their top billing and fell by the wayside after a 21-19, 17-21, 21-19 defeat to China’s sixth seeds Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen in 66 minutes.
Where V Shem-Wee Kiong flopped, there was bright spark for Malaysia in the mixed doubles when sixth seeds Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying advanced to the semi-finals. The Rio Olympics silver medallist defeated China’s unseeded Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping 23-21, 21-14.
For a place in the final the Malaysians will face Japan’s rising pair Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino who overcame Koreans Yoo Yeon-seong-Kim Ha-na 21-17, 18-21, 22-20.
All eyes are on Chong Wei, who at 34, is probably playing his last All-England and is gunning for his fourth title in Birmingham. The world No 1 won in 2010, 2011 and 2014.
The Malaysian ace nearly did not make it to this year’s All-England after picking up a left knee injury during training in Kuala Lumpur. However he made a remarkable recovery to be in Birmingham.
Chong Wei’s focus is this year’s World Championships in Glasgow in August in his bid to win a “major” before deciding on his badminton career. He is also a three-time Olympic silver medal winner – in Bejing (2008), London (2012) and Rio de Janeiro (2016).
In the semi-finals Chong Wei face Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen. The Taiwanese defeated Thai sensation Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 21-19, 16-21, 21-8. Tanongsak had upset Olympic champion Chen Long of China in the second round.
Meanwhile, Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain, the 2015 All England champion was dumped in the quarter-finals. In the battle of two former world No 1 Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon beat the Spaniard No 2 seed 22-20, 13-21, 21-18.
Top seed and current world No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan breezed past India’s Rio Olympics silver medallist P.V. Sindhu 21-14, 21-10. India’s other hope Saina Nehwal was also shown the exit after her 22-20, 22-20 defeat to South Korea’s Sung Ji-hyun.
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RESULTS ALL QUARTER-FINALS
(SINGLES)
Second Round
Men
Lee Chong Wei (Mas) beat Tian Houwei (Chn) 21-12, 21-15
Lin Dan (Chn) beat Viktor Axelsen (Den) 8-21, 21-14, 21-15
Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) beat Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Tha) 21-19, 16-21, 21-8
Shi Yuqi (Chn) beat Kazumasa Sakai (Jpn) 21-13, 21-4
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Women
Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe) beat P.V. Sindhu (Ind) 21-14, 21-10
Sung Ji-hyun (Kor) beat Saina Nehwal (Ind) 22-20, 22-20
Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) beat Sun Yu (Chn) 21-23, 21-14, 22-20
Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) beat Carolina Marin (Spn) 22-20, 13-21, 21-18
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Men’s doubles
Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen (Chn) beat Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (Mas) 21-19, 17-21, 21-19
Liu Cheng-Zhang Nan (Chn) beat Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda (Jpn) 21-23, 21-15, 21-19
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Ina) beat Chai Biao-Hong Wei (Chn) 21-16, 21-18
Mads Conrad-Petersen-Mads Pieler Kolding (Den) beat Lu Kai-Zheng Siwei (Chn) 21-12, 11-21, 21-16
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Women’s doubles
Kamilla Rytter Juhl-Christinna Pedersen (Den) beat Naoko Fukuman-Kurumi Yonao (Jpn) 21-12, 21-11
Jung Kyung-eun-Shin Seung-chan (Kor) beat Shiho Tanaka-Koharu Yonemoto (Jpn) 21-19, 21-17
Bao Yixin-Yu Xiaohan (Chn) beat Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota (Jpn) 21-11, 21-14
Chang Ye-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) beat Luo Ying-Lu Yu (Chn) 21-17, 21-8
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Mixed doubles
Chris Adcock-Gabrielle Adcock (Eng) beat Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir (Ina) 16-21, 21-19, 21-12
Lu Kai-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) beat Joachim Fischer Nielsen-Christinna Pedersen (Den) 21-14, 18-21, 21-11
Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (Mas) beat Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping (Chn)23=21. 21-14
Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (Jpn) beat Yoo Yeon-seong-Kim Ha-na (Kor) 21-17, 18-21, 22-20
