BIRMINGHAM, March 12 -- World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei from Malaysia saw off Chinese hopeful Chen Long in straight games on Saturday to set up a clash with Olympic champion Lin Dan in the men's singles final at the All England Open Badminton Championships.
Lee, 28, led the semifinal all along with his superb defence and unpredictable pace, reaching the final for the second straight time by beating the 22-year-old Chen Long 21-17, 21-13.
"Everybody is looking forward to the match between Lin Dan and me," said the defending champion. "I don't want to think about the result. I will just try to be ready for the encounter."
Earlier, the third seed Lin of China needed to fight three games with German Marc Zwiebler.
The 27-year-old four-time world champion dominated the first game as expected and took it 21-9, but met strong challenge from the world No. 16 Zwiebler, who superbly grabbed one back 21-16.
Lin refused to let Zwiebler play the role of giant killer again as the German sent off reigning world champion Chen Jin in the second round, wrapping it up 21-11.
"I'm not satisfied with my performance in the second game," said the four-time All England title winner. "I was a little bit loose and was taken over by my opponent."
Lin definitely is the favorite in the final as he holds a 15-7 head-to-head record against Lee.
Both the women's singles and doubles final will see China against Japan as world No.1 Wang Shixian is going to meet Eriko Hirose while the third seed Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli meet Mizuki Fujii/Reika Kakiiwa.
Qualifiers Xu Chen and Ma Jin will play the third seed Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam from Thailand in the mixed doubles final.
The men's doubles final is the only final without any Chinese player as Chai Biao and Guo Zhendong were beaten by top seeds Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen from Denmark before world champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng were ousted by Malaysian Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong.