Boonsak shuts out Sony, Simon to take on Chong Wei

Posted by Lucas Liau Latest News 12:15 PM

In the women's singles, Hong Kong's Zhou Mi also inched towards a place in the final with a surprisingly easy win over Japan's Ai Goto and but is likely to face stiffer resistance against China's Liu Xuerui in the semi-final.
Local favourites Zhang Dan-Zhang Zhibo kept local hopes alive when they qualified for a place in the last four after they beat Chinese Taipei's Cheng Hsiao Yun-Cheng Shao Chieh in straight games.
Chong Wei, top seed and reigning World No 1, was firmly in control of his match against Korea's Shon Wan Ho as he smashed his way to a 21-16, 21-12 win in 36 minutes. The Malaysian will play Indonesia's Simon Santoso in the semi-final after the Indonesian easily disposed Hong Kong's Wong Wing Ki 21-6, 21-5.
Chong Wei again used his skill at the net to force Wan Ho to lift the shuttle before ending the rally with smashes down the straight.
To date, the Malaysian has won four Super Series titles - Korea Open, Malaysia Open, Al England and Indonesia Open - and also bagged the Malaysia Open GP Gold tournament three weeks ago. Chong Wei's only 'blemish' came in the Singapore Open Super Series where he was knocked out in the quarterfinals by eventual champion Sony Dwi Kuncoro.
Sony, however, failed to make further progress in the tournament when he was stopped by Boonsak in a thrilling three-game encounter that stretched to almost 80 minutes. Boonsak edged Sony 21-17, 16-21, 25-23 and will now play Korea's Lee Hyun Il in the semi-final.
Hyun Il, maing a comeback, proved too hot for Chinese Taipei's Hsieh Yu Hsing as he won comfortably 21-16, 21-15.
In the women's singles, Zhou Mi, the highest seed left in the tournament after the exits of Yao Jie ( No 2 seed) and Eriko Hirose (No 3 seed), and withdawal of top seed Lu Lan, beat Ai Goto 21-12, 21-9. Waiting for Zhou Mi in the last four is Liu Xuerui, who stopped Yao Jie in the second round. The Chinese beat Macau's Wang Rong 21-9, 13-21, 21-13.
The other semi-final will feature Indonesia Adriyanti Firdasari against Chinese Taipei's Cheng Shao Chieh.
In the men's doubles, former world and Olympic champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan made it to the last four when they overwhelmed  Yoshiteru Hirobe-Kento Kazuno 21-11, 21-16. The Indonesians will be up against Korea's Ko Sung Hyun-Yoo Yeon Seong in the semi-finals.
The second semi-final will also be an Indonesia-Korea encounter with Alvent Yulianto-Hendra Aprida Gunawan taking on Co Gun Woo-Kwon Yi Goo.