Top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia swiftly ended the astonishing run of Guatemala's Kevin Cordon on Friday, dispatching him 21-7 21-13 in 25 minutes in their world championships quarter-final at Wembley Arena. Cordon had beaten China's fifth seed Chen Long in a big opening round upset, the first victory on his way to a meeting with the world number one.
The 24-year-old took a 3-0 lead but it was to be a false dawn and Chong Wei, at the top of his game at this tournament, swept into the semis. Cordon, world-ranked 34, has been training in Spain since March. He told reporters: "Yesterday I played for 71 minutes and it was a very hard game and I was tired after three full matches this week. "But I lost to the best player in the world and he's quite difficult to play against.
"Most of the time you know when you've got your best shots in and you think the shuttle is on the ground but with the kind of player he is it does not work like that." Chong Wei, chasing his first world title, will face defending champion Chen Jin in the semis if the Chinese disposes of Denmark's Hans-Kristian Vittinghus later on Friday. The Malaysian said: "It would be a tough match but I beat him at the Asian Games last year." In the women's singles, Commonwealth champion Saina Nehwal lost 21-15 21-10 to third-seeded Chinese Wang Xin. The Indian said: "She played really fast and I lost my confidence."
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