World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei handed out a lesson on how to hold court on Thursday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, defeating China's Chen Yuekun 21-11, 21-6 in just 30 minutes to book a place in the OUE Singapore Open quarter-finals.

The Malaysian will play Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk on Friday. A final between Lee and China's Du Pengyu remains on the cards after Du, the top seed left after Lee, beat India's H. S. Prannoy 21-17, 18-21, 21-12.

Despite a slow start off the blocks, Lee remained untroubled once he found his rhythm in the match. He said: "The draught in the stadium is very strong, so I took some time to find my rhythm."

In the women's singles, Li Xuerui was given a scare when she was just two points away from a straight-games loss to Japan's Minatsu Mitani. The world No. 1 and Olympic champion eventually held on to win 17-21, 21-19, 21-12.

She said: "I had chances in the first game but didn't do well enough. I just told myself to persevere. Nobody likes to lose so I didn't want to give up until the last point."

Reigning world champion Ratchanok Intanon was also untested in her second-round match, beating Sayaka Takahashi of Japan 21-17, 21-12 comfortably. Vietnam veteran men's player Nguyen Tien Minh, however, could not hold out till the end against India's K. Srikanth. The world No. 10 lost 21-18, 15-21, 8-21.

He said: "I played in a tournament just last week, and my body condition was not at its best. I felt tired."