No.1 seed Lee Chong Wei remains firmly on course

(BEIJING, June 14) -- Lee Chong Wei, No.1 seed in the tournament, remains firmly on course after scoring a 21-9, 21-7 victory over Joachim Persson of Denmark in the quarter finals on June 13.

The Singaporean ace, the best shuttler in Malaysia, has finished second in 2004. He is widely expected to win the title this year with withdraw of several Olympic-bound, top-ranked Shuttlers, including world No. 1 Lin Dan of China.

On of the four spots in the semi-finals has been clinched by Peter Hoeg Gade of Denmark, who has beat Vietnam's Nguyem Tien Minh 21-11, 14-21, 21-12. He will play Chong Wei on Friday to nail a Finals spot.

Indonesia's Simon Santoso, No.6 seed in the tournament, won 19-21, 21-15, 21-17 over Sairul Amar Ayob of Malaysia to set up a semi-finals meeting with Andrew Smith of England, who has beat Kuan Beng Hong of Malaysia, on Friday to compete for another Finals spot.