HORSENS, Danmark - Defending champions China advanced to the semifinals of the Uber Cup badminton women's team championship after a 3-0 victory over Malaysia here on Thursday.

In the opening women's singles, world No 2 Wang Zhiyi defeated Karupathevan Letshanaa 21-17, 21-18.

Wang, who celebrated her 26th birthday on Wednesday, said she had enjoyed some cake and made a wish.

"I guess everybody knows my birthday wish," Wang said with a smile. "What I can do is to focus on managing myself on court rather than trying to control my opponents."

In the doubles, world No 1 pair Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning overcame Malaysia's Ong Xin Yee and Carmen Ting 21-14, 16-21, 21-13.

"They played really well, better than we expected, as we had never faced them before," Tan said. "It took us some time to adapt and find the right way to play against them."

"It was a crucial match, so we felt some pressure," Liu added. "But this is exactly the kind of high-level competition we need to improve and prepare for tougher matches ahead."

Olympic champion Chen Yufei then beat Wong Ling Ching 21-10, 21-10 to seal the 3-0 win for China.