Up against world number six Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Thailand, Wei battled hard before going down 16-21, 21-14, 12-21 in the quarterfinals. Zhou, troubled by a back problem, lost to Chinese title contender Xie Xingfang 21-15, 21-18.
Sony, a finalist in last year’s meet at Kuala Lumpur, said his strategy was to attack his fancied rival. “I had to keep attacking him, because if I had slowed down, Wei would have gone on the offensive,” said Sony, who will meet Chinese world number five Lin Dan in Saturday’s semifinals.
Lin, in sight of a record third successive World title, overcame a fighting Peter Gade to enter the last four. The Danish world number three gave a good account of himself in his 20-22, 16-21 loss.
Fourth-seeded Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia was also involved in a tough match before qualifying for the semifinals with a 21-19, 21-19 win over Denmark's Jan O Jorgensen.
“It was a hard match,” admitted Taufik, who trailed 16-19 in the opening game. “You have to keep your cool in such situations. That's the secret. I have been in such situations before. I am lucky that I am in the bottom half of the draw which is not as tough as the top half.”
Men’s second seed Jin Chen of China ended Indonesian Simon Santoso’s stay with a facile 21-10, 21-13 victory to set up a semifinal clash with Hidayat.
Pi Hongyan of France and Chinese Lu Lan took contrasting routes to the semifinals. The eighth-seeded Frenchwoman rallied to overcome 11th-seeded German Juliane Schenk 15-21, 21-15, 21-19, while the Chinese outplayed a rusty Tine Rasmussen of Denmark 21-15, 21-13.
“I didn't expect to win here and my performance was far below top level,” said the third-seeded Rasmussen, playing her first tournament in five months due to an ankle injury.
“In fact, I should not have been here because I haven't fully recovered. I started playing matches only a week ago. I had beaten her in the all-England Super Series final last year, but today I, was nowhere near my best."
Hongyan has a tough match on hand as she faces formidable Xingfang for a place in the title round.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels | Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks