Chen Long takes on Taiwanese shuttler Tzu Wei Wang in the Men's singles semi-final of 2017 German Open Grand Prix Gold at Mulheim on Saturday.
The second seed made the progress in the ongoing tournament after his quarter-final opponent Hans-Kristian Vittinghus retired halfway through yesterday's match. Chen though had dominated the match, winning the first game 21-10 and was leading in the second 5-3 before the Dane pulled out.
Chen has not played against the 14th seed earlier but is favourite to win his clash given the form he has been in the ongoing tournament. On his return from gold medal-winning campaign at Rio Games, the Chinese shuttler lost the China Open final to Jan O Jorgensen and skipped the season-opening tournaments in the circuit but has chosen Germany for his comeback to be ready in time for the all-important All England Open, starting next week.
While decimating his opponents in the first two rounds with ease, the world number five prevailed in a tough battle against India's Kidambi Srikanth in the Round of 16. The stiff test came at the right time for Chen, who will be eying his third title in Birmingham.
On the other hand, Wang eased past Croatian shuttler Zvonimir Durkinjak 21-19, 21-9 in his quarter-final outing in just 33 minutes. The 22-year-old started his season at Malaysia Masters, in which he bowed out in the second round after losing to Thailand's Ponnawit Thongnuam.
Wang, who had been consistent reaching the final stages of tournament last year, bowed out of German Open as early as in the second round in 2016. The world number 25 though will want to capitalize on his progress this year but he has to be at his best if he needs to stand a chance against the reigning Olympic champion.
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