Kunlavut Vitidsarn is one win away from claiming his maiden Asian title after reaching the men's singles final of the US$500,000 (approx 17.3 million baht) Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, on Saturday.
Kunlavut, the reigning world champion and Olympic silver medallist, defeated Loh Kean Yew of Singapore 23-21, 21-10 to set up a title showdown against home hope Lu Guangzu.
Third seed Kunlavut needed three game points to take the opening game but the second was a much easier affair for the Thai star, who first raced to a 10-4 lead and then widened the gap to 17-5 before wrapping up the tie in 52 minutes.
Kunlavut, who will defend his world title in Paris later this year, is bidding to become the first Thai to win the Asian men's singles crown.
Earlier, Lu battled past fourth seed Li Shifeng 19-21, 21-10, 21-14 in an all-Chinese clash to book his berth in the final.
The women's singles decider will be a battle between two Chinese players -- Han Yue and Chen Yufei.
Second Han advanced to the final after beating compatriot Gao Fangjie 21-14, 21-16, while Chen eased past Sim Yu-Jin of South Korea 21-11, 21-11 in just 32 minutes in the second semi-final.
In the mixed doubles event, eighth seeds Hiroki Midorikawa and Natsu Saito of Japan rallied to defeat Jafar Hidayatullah and Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu of Indonesia 15-21, 23-21, 21-11.
They will face fifth seeds Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet in the final after the Hong Kong pair upset top seeds Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin of China 21-16, 21-17.
In the women's doubles competition, Chinese top seeds Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning reached the final after defeating Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu 21-12, 21-15.
They await the winners of the second semi-final between fifth seeds Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan and third seeds Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan.
