A morning stroll at Wembley Park. That would be the best way to describe Lee Chong Wei’s win over Korea’s Park Sung Hwan in the third round of the World Championships at the Wembley Arena in London this afternoon.
Chong Wei won 21-10, 21-5 to book his place in the last eight where he will be up against either Pablo Abian of Spain or giant-killer Kevin Cordon of Guatemala.
“The scoreline may suggest that it was an easy win but on the contrary I suppose Park just did not know what to do on the court as I countered his every attack,” said Chong Wei.
“His confidence must have been shattered after I won the first set easily as he was hardly in the match in the second set. It was a good win and I am glad to have crossed this stage.”
Chong Wei said that it really did not matter who he was up against in the quarters as both the opponents can be dangerous if taken lightly.
“Both of them have nothing to lose and will go out there and give their best. The key here is not to take them for granted. It is obvious they have talent and the fact that a player from either country can make the last eight augurs well for the development of badminton in the world,” said Chong Wei.
Chong Wei showed there he was all business right from the fist serve itself.
He raced to a 4-1 lead before stretching his lead to 9-4, his trademark drops taking its toll on the lanky Korean.
But Park hung in there, reducing the deficit with two straight points before Chong Wei unleashed a series of smashes to win the serve and point. And Chong Wei led 11-6 at the breather.
There was no letting off when the players returned as Chong Wei raced to a 14-6 lead, and soon made it 18-9. The world number one conceded just one more point before wrapping up the first set 21-10 in just 13 minutes.
The second set was no different as Chong Wei raced to a 7-1 lead. And with Park at sea, Chong Wei took the points at ease as he went 11-3 up at the break.
Chong Wei then raced to a 17-4 lead and completed his morning stroll at Wembley Arena by taking the second set 21- 5 in just
But it was curtains for the mixed doubles pair of Goh Liu Ying and Chan Peng Soon who were stopped in their tracks by Singapore’s Yao Lei/Chayut Triyacharat 21-19, 21-14.
The Malaysians took a 13-10 lead and were up 15-11 at one stage. And Goh/Chan took their chances well to lead 19-16, within a step of taking the first set.
But the Singaporeans never gave up and were on level terms. And then the typical Malaysian downfall began as Goh/Chan conceded the next two points as they went down 19-21, a set they really should have wrapped up easily.
And with their confidence shattered, the Malaysians went down tamely in the second 21-14.
“They read our game very well and although we held the advantage in the first, we just could not finish them off,” said Chan.
“It was a wasted opportunity as we could have taken them but it was just not meant to be.”
