Chong Wei one step away from 3rd all England

Two times winner and defending champion Datuk Lee Chong Wei edged closer to accomplishing a hat-trick when he marched into the final of the men's singles All England final in Birmingham, England. The defending champion was in superb form to sweep aside South Korea's Lee Hyun Il, the eighth seed, in straight sets 21-19, 21-18 in the semifinals. Chong Wei who had a strong backing from the hostile crowd at the National Indoor Arena, will meet the winner of the second semifinal between last year's losing finalist Lin Dan of China and Kenichi Tago of Japan. Barring any upset, Chong Wei is expected to set up a repeat dream final against Lin Dan whom he had beaten 21-17, 21-17 in straight sets last year. Malaysia's second representative in the All England, mixed doubles pair Goh Liu Ying/Chan Peng Soon would also be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Chong Wei as they battle against Indonesian duo Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir. If Goh and Chan who have made it to their first All England semifinal beat the Indonesian pair, they would meet Denmark's Thomas Laybourn/Kamilla Rytter Juhl who beat defending mixed doubles champions Xu Chen/Ma Jin in straight sets 21-16, 21-18 in another semifinal.