Lee Zii Jia set up a mouth-watering quarter-final clash against Kento Momota at the All England Open on Thursday, while M. Thinaah-Pearly Tan continued their stellar performance with another victory to check into the last eight.
Lee needed only 35 minutes to pack off Danish veteran Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 21-12, 21-13 for the clash against the world number one.
The Malaysian’s victory was impressive, because this encounter was a tricky one considering Vittinghus recently upset a few top seeds to make the Thailand Open 2 final.
In the aftermath of his win, Lee described the tournament as holding "good memories for him" after the semis last year, and wanting to improve following a string of poor showings this year.
Against Momota, he vowed to present the Japanese ace "with a good fight".
Momota did not show any rustiness since returning to competitive action in over a year, which was clearly evident in his 21-15, 21-14 dismissal of India’s H. S. Prannoy.
Thinaah-Tan meanwhile were on fire against English pair Jessica Hopton-Jenny Moore to win 21-18, 21-7. The Swiss Open champions next face Japanese fifth seeds Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida for a place in the semis.
In the mixed doubles, Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying won both their matches on the same day to make the last eight.
First, they overcame Danes Mathias Thyrri-Mai Surrow 21-23, 21-15, 21-12 before going on to beat Thailand’s Nipitphon Phuangphuapet-Benyapa Aimsaard 21-9, 21-8.
They next face the in-form French duo of Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue.
Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing were also through, but face a litmus test against second seeds Japanese Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino.
Malaysia saw its representation in the men’s doubles end after Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong and Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi both lost.
Goh-Tan lost in straight games to Danes Mathias Christiansen-Niclas Nohr 19-21, 18-21, while Ong-Teo were no match for Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe as they fell 10-21, 19-21.
