Anders Antonsen is on course to defend his title in the China Masters badminton tournament.
After a close first set, Antonsen cruised past Alex Lanier, who on Thursday eliminated Viktor Axelsen after a terrific comeback. Antonsen won Friday's quarter-final 21-18, 21-14 after barely 50 minutes of play.
On Thursday, Axelsen won the first set and took a big lead in the second set, before Lanier fought back and stunned the double Olympic champion.
Lanier provided a small scare for the superior Dane on Friday, when the Frenchman suddenly recorded five successive points in the second set and turned 6-17 into 11-17.
But a calm and focused Antonsen turned up the pace and forced a beaten Frenchman to make lots of mistakes, which in the end paved the way for a comfortable Danish win.
There was still tension about the final result in the first set when Lanier was ahead by four points several times, before Antonsen tightened the grip on the match when he was down 8-12 and proved superior technically and tactically.
In his semi-final on Saturday afternoon, Antonsen will face world number 15, Chun-Yi Lin from Taiwan, whom he last beat at the China Open in July after three very close sets.
Antonsen is the only remaining Dane in the China Masters, which ranks as a Super 750 tournament.