Chong Wei survives potential pitfall at badminton worlds

(Reuters): Top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia sailed through a potentially tricky test by beating South Korean Park Sung-hwan to book a place in the world championship quarter-finals with a crushing 21-10 21-5 victory at Wembley Arena on Thursday.

In last year’s tournament in Paris, ninth-seeded Park had put out defending champion Lin Dan and was regarded as a dangerous floater.

But Chong Wei was at the top of his formidable game, brushing the Korean aside in 29 minutes and completing the win with a spectacular diving recovery shot which just went over the net.

The world number one told reporters: “I enjoyed the match. I played better today but I still have to focus and prepare myself.”

His last-eight opponent will be either Spain’s Pablo Abian or Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon, the revelation of the tournament who ousted fifth seed Chen Long of China in round one. Chong Wei was joined in the last eight by three-times former world champion Lin who eased past 12th-seeded South Korean Lee Hyun-il 21-16 21-13.