Vietnamese badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh did not have to go through the whole match to reach the semi-finals after Indonesia’s unseeded Kuncoro Sony Dwi retired yesterday at the Yonex-Sunrise Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold.

World No 8 and the third-seeded Minh led was 1-0 in the lead after beating Kuncoro 21-18 in the first set. When Minh was leading 5-1 in the second set, Kuncoro retired, giving Minh the win just after 23 minutes.

Minh, 28, will face Chinese seven-seeded Bao Chunlai, who needed three sets to beat Lee Hyun-il of South Korea in the quarter-finals 21-18, 13-21, 21-9.

Minh has never defeated Bao, who currently ranks 11 in the world, in all three previous encounters at Djarum Indonesia Super Series 2008, Aviva Singapore Super Series 2009 and Yonex Open Japan Super Series 2009.

Source: VNS