(VNS) Badminton ace Nguyen Tien Minh earned a spot in the semi-final round of the Yonex Open Japan after defeating Ajay Jayaram of India 21-18, 21-13 yesterday in Tokyo.

Minh, No 5 seed, enjoyed the win after losing twice to Jayaram at the Indian Badminton League last month.

His next rival will be world and tournament No 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, who won over host player Jun Takemura 21-10, 21-11 in another quarter-final match.

The two sides have met each other 11 times; Minh lost 10 times. His only win was three years ago at a tournament in Singapore.

In the second semi-final match in Tokyo, Chinese Huan Gao will play Japanese Kenichi Tago, seeded No 7.

The Japan Open will close tomorrow with a bonus of US$200,000 divided to winners.— VNS