(BEIJING, August 15) — Malaysia’s World No. 2 Lee Chong-wei had his first scare since entering the Olympic Badminton tournament, but emerged triumphant against Lee Hyun-il of the Republic of Korea 21-18, 13-21, 21-13 in the semifinals of the Men’s Singles competition on Friday, August 15.

Heavily favored for gold, the Malaysian ace stayed undefeated in his previous matches, taking them all in two straight games.

Lee Chong-wei stayed in form throughout the first game against Lee Hyun-il, the quarterfinal stunner of China’s third seed Bao Chunlai, to win 21-18. Then his winning streak was put to an abrupt end in the second game, as Lee Hyun-il scored a consecutive 11 points to lead 16-6 midway through before closing it at 21-13.

The Malaysian shuttler soon recovered, building a solid lead with several unassailable net flies and razor-sharp smashes. Though the left-handed Lee Hyun-il played hard, coming up with a perfect net shot and driving several cross-court shots to narrow the margin, Lee Chong-wei won the third game 21-13.

“I made a few mistakes in the beginning and I knew I could not win, so I just prepared myself for the final game,” said Lee Chong-wei about his loss in the second game. “I followed the game plan from the beginning and went all out to take the last game.”

Lee Chong-wei will go to the final and meet the winner between World No. 1 Lin Dan and fourth seed Chen Jin, both of China. If he wins in the final, it would be the first ever Olympic gold for Malaysia.