Lee Zii Jia staged an impressive win from a wide deficit to make the semifinals of the GR TOYOTA GAZOO RACING Thailand Open 2022 in Bangkok on Friday.

Lee trailed Shesar Hiren Rhustavito 4-12 in the decider, but made his way back, taking 17 of the next 21 points to win the match 21-10 14-21 21-16. It will be an all-Malaysian semifinal, with Lee taking on Liew Daren, who edged Zhao Jun Peng in an hour-long affair, 21-10 19-21 21-19.

The top half will see Kodai Naraoka against Li Shi Feng.

Pusarla V Sindhu’s quarterfinal against Akane Yamaguchi was just as dramatic. The Japanese recovered from 5-12 down in the second game to force a decider, but Pusarla shook off that disappointment to win the third game rather comfortably with Yamaguchi showing signs of having hurt her back.

Pusarla takes on Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei, while in the top half, Tai Tzu Ying faces home favourite Ratchanok Intanon.

Tai was involved in a rollercoaster quarterfinal against He Bing Jiao, having led 13-4 in the third game, only for her Chinese rival to nearly catch up with her at 18-19. The top seed however clinched the last two points to take the match 21-10 14-21 21-18.

Highlights

♦ Sixth seeds Chiharu Shida/Nami Matsuyama beat world champions Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan after three straight losses, 21-17 13-21 21-17. The Japanese face Malaysia’s Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan, who overcame Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota 24-22 21-12.

♦ In men’s doubles, Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen were comfortable winners over top seeds Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan, 21-13 21-15. Up next for the Danes will be world champions Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi, who were straight-games winners over Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin.

♦ Mixed doubles will see the world’s top four pairs square off in the semifinals. World champions Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai take on Olympic champions Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dong Ping, while All England champions Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino will be up against Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong.

FULL RESULTS