The fourth seed Chen Jin of China romped into the men's singles final at the Badminton World Championships for the second year in a row after beating world No. 2 Peter Gade from Denmark on Saturday.
Chen lost the first set 19-21, but managed to win the following two 21-8 and 21-11.
"I was ready to play three sets," said the 24-year-old Chen. "He is a seasoned player and I admire him a lot."
Chen believed that he used the right strategy since the beginning but Gade played too well in the opening set.
"He played very fast in the first set and lost too much energy," Chen commented on the European top player who is nine years older than him. "I didn't change my strategy in the following sets. It's just because that he was too tired to keep his speed."
Chen is going to meet the winner between South Korea's Park Sung Hwan and Indonesian ace Taufik Hidayat on Sunday.
Park smashed three-time world champion and Olympig gold medallist Lin Dan in straight sets in the semifinals while Hidayat edged out world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei from Malaysia to reach the final.
"I have reached my goal of advancing into the final, and I just want to perform well tomorrow," said Chen who lost to teammate Lin Dan in last year's final.