Summary The Malaysian took just 29 minutes to demolish Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 21-8, 21-14.
SINGAPORE (AFP) - World number one Lee Chong Wei turned on the style and even had time to attempt a trick shot as he sped into the Singapore Open semi-finals on Friday.
The Malaysian took just 29 minutes to demolish Thailand s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 21-8, 21-14 in breathtaking fashion, at one point even trying a shot from underneath his leg which fell short of the net.
It was exhibition stuff from Lee, who is the tournament s red-hot favourite after three of the top four seeds were late withdrawals, drastically weakening the men s singles field.
Tanongsak beat Japanese eighth seed Kento Momota in the first round but the gulf in class was clear during Friday s quarter-final against the confident and ruthless Lee.
On Saturday, Lee will meet India s K. Srikanth, who beat China s Hu Yun 17-21, 21-14, 21-19 -- after upsetting seventh seed Nguyen Tien Minh a round earlier -- for a place in the semi-finals.
In the other men s semi, Indonesian qualifier Simon Santoso will face Chinese fifth seed Du Pengyu for a place in the final.
Women s top seed and Olympic champion Li Xuerui went past Taiwan s Tzu Ying-tai in straight games, in a far more convincing display than her three-game struggle against Japan s Minatsu Mitani in round two.
Li won 21-10, 21-13 in 27 minutes to stay on course for a repeat of last year s final with defending champion and fellow Chinese Wang Yihan, who downed India s eighth seed P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-15.
Defending mixed doubles champions Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia took just over half an hour to brush off Anders Kristiansen and Julie Houmann 21-8, 21-17 on their way to Saturday s semi-finals.
In the women s doubles, top seeds Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl downed Reika Kakiiwa and Miyuki Maeda 21-15, 21-5 to set up a clash with Japan s Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi.
