TOP seed Lee Chong Wei gave his fans a few anxious moments before overcoming Poland's Przemyslaw Wacha to reach the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Open at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

Chong Wei set the early pace, lost his way in the second before regaining his composure to win 21-5, 15-21, 21-8 in 43 minutes.

That sets him on course for a fourth Malaysia Open title as his much-anticipated encounter with Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat did not materialise after the latter lost to compatriot Simon Santoso.

Simon performed steadily to defeat Taufik, who is carrying a back injury, 21-18, 21-16 in 40 minutes.

But Chong Wei could also have bitten the dust after a fiery first game. He raced to a 9-0 lead as Wacha struggled and Chong Wei snatched a 21-5 win. His fans must have thought it would be more of the same in the second.

Over-confidence may have played a part as Chong Wei lost his grip on the match and allowed Wacha to make a strong comeback and win the second 21-15.

However, Chong Wei regained his focus in the decider and the match was virtually sealed when he led 11-1.

Two disputed line calls by Wacha saw tournament referee Torsten Berg being consulted but Chong Wei was not to be denied as he won 21-8.

"I didn't play well as I expected and was sluggish on court. However, I managed to overcome that," said Chong Wei.

"Wacha was making mistakes in the first game but in the second, he started fighting back. I was not over-confident but didn't adjust to the draft in the second.

"I need to improve if I want to beat Simon as he proved how dangerous he can be by beating Taufik."

Simon had beaten Chong Wei in the 2005 Sea Games and also got the better of him in the quarter-finals of last year's Taiwan Open.

"I've beaten him twice but lost to him in the French Open, but Chong Wei is well prepared and in form at the moment," said Simon.

Veteran Wong Choong Hann's run in the tournament was halted by second seed Bao Chunlai of China with a 21-15, 21-16 win.

However, it was the end of the road for KLRC Bhd's Sairul Amar Ayub when he was beaten 22-20, 5-21, 21-17 by South Korea's Shon Seung-mo in 55 minutes.

Wong Mew Choo joined Chong Wei in the quarter-finals when she defeated Jeanine Cicognini of Switzerland 21-14, 21-10 in the second round.

Mew Choo will meet Japan's Eriko Hirose today.

Copyright © 2008 Xinhua