* Chong Wei beats China’s Kai Guo in third round
* Malaysian ace to meet England’s Rajiv Ouseph for a place in the semis
Datuk Lee Chong Wei is unseeded and his world rankings has nose dived to a low 180 in the latest BWF ranking list released on Thursday but the Malaysian ace has been ruthless in the USD120,000 US Open Grand Prix Gold in Brentford, New York as he marched into the quarter-finals.
The former World No 1 defeated China’s Kai Guo 21-17, 22-20 in the third round for a place in the quarter-finals where he will take on England’s Rajiv Ouseph. The 11th seeded Englishman another Chinese player Zhu Siyan 21-11, 21-8 in the third round.
Chong Wei had an easy first set but he faced some resistance from Kai Guo in the second set but his experience saw him prevail 22-20 to take the match in 43 minutes.
The Malaysian is hot favourite to win the US Open title although Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen is the top seed. The Taiwanese stayed on course with a 21-18, 21-19 win over India’s Ajay Jayaram (14th seed) in 36 minutes.
Tien Chou’s quarter-final opponent is Japan’s Takuma Ueda who stopped another Indian – RMV Gurusaidutt in the third round with a 22-20, 13-21, 21-16 win in the third round.
Selected Third Round Results
Men’s singles
Lee Chong Wei (Mas) beat Kai Guo (Chn) 21-17, 22-20
Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) beat Ajay Jayaram (Ind) 21-18, 21-19
Takuma Ueda (Jpn) beat RMV Gurusaidutt (Ind) 22-20, 13-21, 21-16
Rajiv Ouseph (Eng) beat Zhu Siyan (Chn) 21-11, 21-8