CHOONGJU CITY: Malaysian youngster Lee Chong Wei upset world number six Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark to join compatriot Wong Choong Hann in the men's singles quarter-finals of the Korean Open here yesterday. But Mohd Roslin Hashim failed to advance. With the win yesterday, the 22-year-old Chong Wei took a giant step forwards in his bid to qualify for the Athens Olympics. He defeated Jonassen convincingly at 15-4, 15-3. It was certainly a strong comeback to competition by Chong Wei, who was forced out of the Swiss Open and All-England last month because of a leg injury. Chong Wei, who is now ranked 16th in the world, will take on South Korean Park Tae-sang for a place in the semi-finals. Tae-sang ousted teammate and second seed Lee Hyun-il 15-11, 15-7. Malaysian number one Choong Hann will play against All-England runner-up Peter Gade-Christensen of Denmark in the quarter-finals. Choong Hann, who is ranked fourth in the world, defeated Hong Kong's Agus Hariyanto 15-9, 15-13 in the third round while Gade-Christensen had to slog for a 15-4, 11-15, 15-11 win over Korean Shon Seung-mo. Choong Hann and Gade-Christensen have played against each other 12 times with the Malaysian emerging as the winner in the last three encounters – at the 2002 and 2003 China Open and 2003 Taiwan Open. Roslin fell to a 13-15, 15-7, 11-15 defeat by German number one Bjoern Joppien. The defeat by the 23rd ranked Joppien may affect Roslin's current position at number 14. Only the top 16 in the world rankings at the end of the Olympic qualifying period on April 30 are assured of places in the Athens Games in August. Holland's Dicky Palyama scored an upset win over China's Bao Chunlai. A 15-8, 13-15, 17-14 victory set him up for a quarter-final match against top seeded Chinese China Chen Hong. In the women's singles, Malaysia's challenges ended with the exit of Wong Mew Choo and Woon Sze Mei in the third round. Mew Choo went down tamely 4-11, 3-11 to French Open champion Pi Hongyan of France while Sze Mei lost 5-11, 2-11 to China's Zhang Ning. Courtesy of TheStar
