WORLD No. 1 Lee Chong Wei secured a third straight men’s singles finals appearance at the Badminton World Championships on Saturday while women’s top seed Li Xuerui of China also advanced to the title match.

    Top-ranked Lee, twice a runner-up at the tournament, brushed aside young Danish hopeful Viktor Axelsen 21-9, 21-7 in front of a partisan Copenhagen crowd to move within touching distance of a first major title.

    Despite his advancing years, Lee, who will turn 32 in October, demonstrated his enduring class with a sublime blend of blistering overheads and resolute defense to reel off 12 of the final 13 points in the first game and never looked back.

    “So far things have got better each match,” said Malaysia’s Lee.

    Lee will face Chinese second seed Chen Long, who defeated Indonesia’s fifth-ranked Tommy Sugiarto 21-16, 22-20, in the final.

    Meanwhile, Li ended the run of Japanese 16th seed Minatsi Mitani to seal a return to the women’s singles final.

    (SD-Agencies)