Another of Maze's achievements was reaching the semifinals of the 2005 World Championships that took place in Shanghai, China, in which he was defeated by the home favorite, Ma Lin, in a swift 4–0 match. Nevertheless, he had managed to put up a memorable performance in the quarterfinals of the competition, coming back from a 3–0 deficit to win 4–3 against another Chinese player, Hao Shuai, saving 3 match points, as well as a win in the previous match against 2004 Olympics Men's singles silver medallist Wang Hao, again from the host nation. Michael Maze won the prize "BT Gold" as the biggest Danish sportsperson in 2005.