HONG KONG: Former world number one Lee Chong Wei beat giant-slayer Angus Ng -- who downed Chinese badminton legend Lin Dan in the second round -- to net a place in his third consecutive Super Series final at the Hong Kong Open on Saturday.
The Malaysian, who has been a dominant force on the badminton circuit for nearly a decade, took 46 minutes to dismiss Ng 21-19, 21-14.
The twenty-one-year-old Hong Konger beat Lee's long-time nemesis Lin, making him an overnight hometown hero.
Ng managed to gain a three point lead over Lee in the first set, darting across the court to return some of the Malaysian's trickiest shots.
But despite having a packed home crowd stadium behind him, the youngster was unable to slay his second giant of the tournament as the veteran made quick work of the second set.
"It is very hard to lead 18-15 to the best men's singles player in the world, so I relaxed a bit too much at the (end of the first set) and (then) I end up loosing the first set," said Ng.
The result is still the youngster's best result at a Super Series tournament, and his more experienced opponent was full of praise, describing Ng as "a future star".
"Ka Long played very well because he played at home and he is very speedy," said Lee using Ng's Chinese name.
"The first set I lost a lot, I made very simple mistakes and then I had to play very aggressively for the game."
The Malaysian will face Chinese world number 10 Tian Houwei in the final, after he beat little-known qualifier Ginting Anthony of Indonesia 18-21, 21-11, 21-6.
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