China's Chen Yufei poses for a photo after winning the women's singles quarterfinal match against Spain's Carolina Marin at Malaysia Open 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jan 13, 2023. (PHOTO BT CHONG VOON CHUNG / XINHUA)

KUALA LUMPUR - Olympic badminton champion Chen Yufei of China stayed on course for the Malaysia Open title after beating Spain's Carolina Marin 21-18, 21-19 on Friday to reach the women's singles semifinals.

Chen will face An Se-young for a spot in the final, after the South Korea second seed edged China's Wang Zhiyi 21-17, 16-21, 21-19.

Former champion Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei outplayed teammate Hsu Wen-chi 21-6, 21-8.

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China showed strength in the women's doubles as two Chinese pairs advanced to the semifinals. World champions Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan progressed with a 21-17, 21-17 victory over Bulgaria's Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva, while Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu prevailed over Li Wenmei/Liu Xuanxuan 21-19, 21-19 in an all-Chinese quarterfinal.

In men's doubles, China's Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang booked their semifinal spot by overcoming Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark 22-20, 23-21 in a close match.

However, Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi, also from China, were ousted by India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty 17-21, 22-20, 21-9.

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In mixed doubles, China's Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong thrashed France's Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue 21-15, 21-6 to reach the last four.

Meanwhile, world champion Viktor Axelsen eased past Japan's Kenta Nishimoto 21-6, 21-12 to enter the men's singles semifinals.

The Malaysia Open runs from Jan 10 to 15.