The world's number one shuttler Chen Hong of China is getting closer to his second title in Southeast Asia tour as he reached the final of the Sanyo Indonesia Open 2003 after beating Lee Hyun Il of Korea 15-6 and 15-5 in the Batam Indoor Stadium in Indonesia, on Saturday.

Capturing last week's Singapore Open title, the top seed Chinese hungers for the second when he will be playing local hero Taufik Hidayat, the only hope for the host squad, in the final on Sunday.

The Sunday's final will be the rematch of final in the same tournament last year, when Taufik out-powered Chen Hong in his home event.

Supported by the noisy home crowd, Taufik ended spectacular move by Chinese rising star Wu Wunyong 15-8 and 15-5 to secure his passage to the final.

"I'm happy, but not completely happy until I conclude my fight on Sunday," Taufik said following his win over Wu Wunyong.

Unseeded Wu Wunyong with a low world ranking at 140 reached the semis after seven impressive wins in a row started from the qualifying round.

China assures women's doubles title in the 170,000 US dollars tournament after its pairs secured tickets for the final.

World titleholder Gao Ling and Huang Sui demolished unseeded Korean pair Hwang Yu Mi and Lee Hyo Jun 15-5 and 15-4 and fifth seed Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen trashed Ra Kyung Min and Lee Kyung Won 15-12, 12-15 and 15-4 in another China-Korea battle.

In women's singles, Chinese Xie Xingfang will play Wang Chen of Hong Kong, China on Sunday. Fourth seed Wang Chen reached the final after beating Zhou Mi of China 11-7 and 11-9.

The Sanyo Indonesia Open is the second leg of three back-to- back Grand Prix events scheduled throughout Southeast Asia between Singapore Open and Malaysia Open.

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