All England: World Number One Singles, Chong Wei Proceeds To Quarter-Finals

KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 (Bernama) -- World number one singles, Lee Chong Wei, advanced to the quarter-finals of the All-England Championship after beating Denmark's Hans-Kristian Vittinghus in Birmingham, England early this morning (Malaysian time). Hans-Kristian, who suffered an injury on the right arm, appeared aggressive in the match but was eventually tamed by Chong Wei in straight sets lasting 45 minutes. The Malaysian 29-year-old shuttler had to sweat it out to beat Hans-Kristian in the first set 23-21 before dominating the second set 21-18. Chong Wei, who is also the All-England defending champion, will meet Indonesian Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka in the quarter-finals. The campaign by Malaysia's two doubles pairs in the All-England, namely Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong and Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif/Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari ended today after losing in the second round. Koo/Tan lost to the doubles pair from China, Hong Wei/Shen Ye, 21-12, 17-21 and 20-22 while Mohd Zakry/Mohd Fairuzizuan lost to the seventh seed from Indonesia, Mohammad Ahsan/Bona Septano, 22-24 and 13-21. Meanwhile in the mixed doubles, Malaysia's Goh Liu Ying/Chan Peng Soon also progressed to the quarter-finals after beating their opponents from Japan, Shoji Sato/Shizuka Matsuo, 21-18 and 21-9 in 34 minutes in the second round this morning. The world's mixed doubles ninth seed will face the England/Scotland combination of Chris Adcock(ENG)/Imogen Bankier(SCO) in the quarter-finals. Another Malaysian singles, Liew Daren maintained his excellent performance to beat his opponent from England, Rajiv Ouseph, 21-15 and 21-10 to book a slot in the quarter-finals of the prestigious badminton championship. Daren will face the world's seventh seed from South Korea, Lee Hyun Ill in the quarter-finals. Another Malaysian singles shuttler, Chong Wei Feng was apparently no match for the world number two, Lin Dan, who easily tamed the Malaysian 13-21 and 16-21. -- BERNAMA