Badminton: Lee reaches Malaysia Open final

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Badminton: Lee reaches Malaysia Open final

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Lee Chong Wei beat Chen Long 21-18, 17-21, 21-13 to reach Malaysia Open final.

15 January,2012 04:55 am

World number one Lee Chong Wei came back from the brink Saturday at the Malaysia Open with an inspired 21-18, 17-21, 21-13 victory over Chen Long to take him to the final in front of home fans.Lees victory, sweet revenge after Chen beat him in the World Superseries Finals in Liuzhou in December, means he is now one match away from winning a record equalling eighth mens singles title on Sunday.More importantly, he has now landed a big psychological blow against his two biggest rivals in an Olympic year after defeating world number two Lin Dan in the final of the Korea Open last Sunday.It feels good to have beaten the world number two in South Korea last week and now the world number three. It is an important boost as the Olympics will be held this year, said Lee.The Chinese players are so hard to beat and to have beaten my two biggest rivals has given me the confidence to go out and try to win my eighth Malaysian title, he added.The Malaysian will now meet Japans Kenichi Tago on Sunday for a shot at the record, knowing he has not lost to the Japanese shuttler in a Superseries final after beating Tago to win the 2010 All England and 2011 French Open titles.Lee, who was trailing 7-3 and 8-5 in the decider, turned the tables by taking seven consecutive points to take a lead he would not relinquish.Chinas 2010 world champion Chen Jin injured his ankle after landing awkwardly from a jumping smash to give Tago a place in the final.It will be difficult against Chong Wei tomorrow as this is his home ground and he is also the world number one, Tago said.Meanwhile, two pairs who have never won a Superseries tournament, Ha Jung-Eun/Kim Min-Jung of South Korea and Denmarks Christinna Pedersen/Kamilla Rytter-Juhl, will contest the womens doubles final.Pedersen and Juhl are established mixed doubles players and they said training regularly with their male partners have made them faster.Jung-Eun/Min-Jung reached the final by beating Japans Shizuka Matsuo/Mami Naito 17-21, 21-15, 21-11 while the Danes took out Japan Open winners Yixin Bao/Zhong Qianxin 21-14, 21-13.