Wozniacki reaches semi-finals in Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - Danish star Caroline Wozniacki defeated Germany's Carina Witthoeft in straight sets at the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Open on Friday.

The top seed won the match 6-3, 6-1 and will meet the competition's 2012 champion Su-Wei Hsieh from Taiwan in the semi-final on Saturday.

Hsieh sent little-known Elizaveta Kulichkova packing after getting past her 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-0, ending the Russian's rising momentum in the tournament and booking her spot in the semis.

Kulichkova, ranked 171st in the world, had shown good form during the opening hurdles and advanced in the competition by knocking out players ranked higher than her, including seventh-seed Bojana Jovanovski from Serbia.

Meanwhile, eigth-seed Julia Goerges from Germany was defeated by Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru 7-6 (7/5), 7-5.

In another quarter-final match, Australia's Jarmila Gajdosova beat Japan's Kurumi Nara 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.