It was a day of upsets at the Axiata Arena with several high-profile players dropping out in the 2019 Malaysia Masters quarter-finals on Friday.
No upset was bigger than Malaysian pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi's incredible straight-set victory over world no. 3 Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda, winning 21-19, 21-16 in 39 minutes.
It was the world no. 27's second win in as many meetings against the Japanese stars, having beaten them at the Asian Games last year.
The victory booked them a semi-final meeting with fellow countrymen Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who clinched a shock 21-17, 21-19 win over fourth seed Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark.
The men's double final could potentially be an all-Malaysian affair, with Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong overcoming Japanese pair Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe 22-20, 21-15 for a semi-final clash with world no. 1 Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjay Sukamuljo.
Like their comrades, Goh Jin Wei (women's singles) and Liew Daren (men's singles) also gunned down top seeds, beating China's He Bingjiao and Shi Yuqi respectively.
In the semis, Goh will face Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon, while Liew will have a showdown with South Korean shuttler Son-Wan Ho.
The only Malaysians not progressing from the quarter-finals into the semi-finals were men's singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia, who lost to Viktor Axelsen, and mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, who were defeated by fellow Malaysians Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying.
Seng Foo Lee
Fri Jan 18 2019
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