China's world number two Lin Dan stepped closer to the men's singles title of the Macao Open badminton championship on Friday after seeing off Malaysia's Muhd Hafiz in the quarterfinals.

Lin recovered from a sluggish first set to beat Malaysia's MuhdHafiz 19-21, 21-19, 21-17 to make the semifinals.

His compatriot Chen Hong edged past another Malaysian Sairul Amar 21-15, 19-21, 21-19, but the other two Chinese players failedto go further in the tournament.

Chen Jin managed to heap pressure on the South Korea ace Lee Hyun II, but still crashed out in a 24-22, 13-21, 21-23 loss. Bao Chunlai lost to Malaysia's world number one Lee Chong Wei 14-21, 10-21.

In the women's singles competition, Chinese players, including world number one Zhang Ning, were all stopped in the quarterfinals, making the semifinals a contest between players from Hong Kong and the Netherlands.

In the semifinals, Hong Kong's Yip Pui Yin will face Netherlands' Yao Jie and her teammate Wang Chen play the Netherlands' Judith Meulendijks.

China's two pairs in the men's doubles and two duos in the women's doubles all advanced into the semifinals.

Editor: Donald