TOKYO, Sept 25 Men's world No 1 and top seed Lee Chong Wei breezed past Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand on Saturday to set up a final showdown with old foe Lin Dan at the Japan Open badminton tournament.

The Malaysian, winner here in 2007, pulled off a 21-13, 21-18 win in his semi, while Lin, China's Beijing Olympic gold medallist, powered his way through to a 21-11, 21-19 over European champion Peter Gade of Denmark.

It will be a re-match of the 2008 Olympic Games, when the Chinese defeated Lee 21-12, 21-8 in the final.

In the women's singles, Wang Xin whipped European champion Tine Baun of Denmark 21-17, 21-16 to make it an all-Chinese final against Jiang Yanjiao, winner over compatriot Wang Shixian 21-19, 23-21.

Lin, the three-time former world champion, did not have it all his own way against veteran Gade, going down 3-7 in the second game as the Dane hit a couple of good smashes and a quick attack at the net.

Gade, two-time champion here in 1998 and 1999, kept the lead to 16-12 before Lin started to notch up points to catch up at 18-18, when the Dane hit wide against Lin's low serve. Gade made it 19-19 with an overhead drop shot, but his backhand landed in the net to go down again, allowing Lin to finish off the 45-minute match with a jump smash.

Wang Xin, who became the new world No 1 in the rankings issued on Thursday, lost to compatriot Wang Yihan in last year's final.

Results (prefix number denotes seeding)

Men's singles

Semi-finals 1-Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) bt Boonsak Ponsana (Thailand) 21-13, 21-18; 5-Lin Dan (China) bt 2-Peter Gade (Denmark) 21-11, 21-19.—AFP