Traditional powerhouses China, Korea and Denmark continued to dominate the Li-Ning BWF World Championships but there were a couple of unexpected semi-finalists. Here are some snapshots of the action.

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Featured image: The strain of defending a smash shows on Lee Yong Dae’s face as the Korean returns a shot during his Men’s Doubles quarter-final (with Yoo Yeon Seong) against Chinese Taipei’s Tsai Chia Hsin/Lee Sheng Mu. The Koreans won 21-16 21-13.

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Spain’s Carolina Marin gets a warm hug from her coach after she overcame Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying 19-21 21-19 21-11 in the Women’s Singles quarter-finals.

Olympic Women’s Doubles champions Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei weren’t stretched by opponents Anggia Shitta Awanda/Delia Destiara Haris (Indonesia) as they cruised to a 21-12 21-15 victory.

Local heroes Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen enter the arena to thunderous applause. The Danes kept alive their hopes of winning the gold by clinching the Men’s Doubles quarter-finals 21-8 21-17 over China’s Liu Xiaolong/Qiu Zihan.

Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying was a couple of points away from making the Women’s Singles semi-finals but was thwarted by Carolina Marin.

Japan’s Minatsu Mitani has been the surprise package of the Li-Ning BWF World Championships so far, taking down two players seeded ahead of her.

Men’s Singles No.2 seed Chen Long cannot contain his emotions after he sealed his semi-final place beating Korea’s Son Wan Ho 21-14 12-21 21-17.

Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen ensured Denmark’s presence in the Mixed Doubles semi-finals with a hard-fought result over Praveen Jordan/Debby Susanto (Indonesia).

Japan’s Miyuki Maeda/Reika Kakiiwa needed an hour to get past Indonesia’s Greysia Polii/Nitya Krishinda Maheswari, 21-19 21-13, in their Women’s Doubles quarter-finals.