Mew Choo blows golden chance to win a medal

Wong Mew Choo had only herself to blame for letting slip the chance to get into the medals playoff of the women's singles badminton competition at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium last night.

She held a total of nine game points in the second game of her quarter-final match against Lu Lan but was unable to force the Chinese third seed to a rubber game and lost the match 7-21, 27-29.

Mew Choo, who was the first Malaysian woman to qualify for an Olympic quarter-final, had no answer to the Lu Lan's aggression in the first game and conceded defeat in 14 minutes.

The battle continued but it was not to be Mew Choo's night. She bowed out in straight games and there will be an all-China semi-final between Lu Lan and top seed Xie Xingfang, who beat Xu Huaiwen of Germany 21-19, 22-20.

The other semi-final is between defending champion Zhang Ning of China and Indonesian Maria Kristin Yulianti.

Zhang Ning slogged for 66 minutes to beat Pi Hongyan of France 21-8, 19-21, 21-19 while Maria, who ousted Danish contender Tine Rasmussen in the early round, chalked up a 26-28, 21-14, 21-15 win over India's Saina Nehwal.

MALAYSIAN second seed Lee Chong Wei moved into the quarter-finals of the men's singles badminton competition with an effortless win over Lithuania's Navickas Kestutis at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium yesterday.

But it was the end of the road for veteran Wong Choong Hann. After the high of eliminating defending champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia the previous night, Choong Hann squandered the chance to advance when he was beaten by Taiwanese Hsieh Yu-hsing in a third-round match.

The Taiwanese lost the first game 14-21 but staged a gritty comeback to beat Choong Hann 21-17, 21-18 in 64 minutes for the biggest win of his career.

Earlier, Chong Wei needed just 26 minutes to beat Kestutis 21-5, 21-7 and will face his first big test tomorrow against Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro, who beat Finland's Ville Lang 21-13, 21-18 in his third-round match.

Top seed Lin Dan set up a last eight clash with Danish veteran Peter-Gade Christensen when he powered his way past South Korean Park Sung-hwan 21-8, 21-11. Christensen overcame Shoji Sato of Japan 19-21, 22-20, 21-15.

In the same half as Chong Wei's draw, third seeded Bao Chunlai earned a quarter-final showdown against the unranked but dangerous South Korean challenger Lee Hyun-il after a hard-fought 21-11, 19-21, 21-13 win over Wacha Przemyslaw of Poland.