PETALING JAYA: Shuttlers Lee Zii Jia and Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik have kept the Malaysian flag flying high in the Denmark Open by smashing into the men's singles and doubles semi-finals respectively.
World No. 11 Zii Jia stayed steady to beat Japan's world No. 14 Kenta Nishimoto 21-18, 21-18 in the last eight at the Jyske Bank Arena in Odense on Friday (Oct 20).
It was sweet revenge for Zii Jia after he lost to Nishimoto in their last encounter in the first round of the Japan Open in July.
Zii Jia will next take on Hong Kong's world No. 18 Lee Cheuk Yiu on Saturday (Oct 21) for a place in the final.
In the men's doubles, world No. 4 Aaron-Wooi Yik had to dig deep to overcome China's scratch pairing He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu 24-22, 18-21, 21-12 to reach the last four.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will face home favourites and world No. 6 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen next.
The Danes defeated another Malaysian pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 21-19, 11-21, 21-14 to book their spot in the semi-finals.