Arctic Open: Three titles in striking distance for Malaysia

The Malaysian contingent booked four semi-finals berths at the Arctic Open, with three representatives impressing in their own style in the last eight action.

Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, Ng Tze Yong, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun and Lee Zii Jia all came through, setting Saturday's action to be a much awaited weekend opener for Malaysian fans.

Two men's singles players in it added to the interest, with both Lee and Ng avoiding each other against different opponents.

Ng, the first of the two in action, defeated China's Lu Guang Zu 21-11, 21-18.

Lu may not have turned up on his best day, but the Chinese shuttler did try his best to thwart the Malaysian who was in a class of his own and wrapped the first game up without much worry.

But the Chinese gave him plenty to think about in the second game, refusing to go away despite trailing 10-18.

Lu fought back to 17-19, but the Malaysian kept his nerve to close out the match and celebrated with relief.

Ng will be out to use his cross court prowess once again when he tackles Japan's Kanta Tsuneyama in the last four.

Earlier, national mixed doubles pair Chen-Toh also turned in a fired up performance to stun second seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai 21-14, 21-17.

The Malaysians showed tremendous improvement compared to when the Thais beat them at the Malaysia Open this year.

Chen was deadly with his smashes and deceptive with his drop shots from the back court, and Toh always made Sapsiree work extra hard at the front.

The fifth seeds take on Chinese pair Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin in a predicted feisty affair on Saturday.

National men's doubles pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun also impressed with a straight game 22-20, 21-18 victory over Indonesians Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Erich to set up a semis showdown against Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard.

The Danes played their part well to stop an all-Malaysian encounter after recovering from a game down to beat Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 16-21, 21-19, 21-14.

The all-Malaysian men's singles quarter-final match saw Lee come through after Leong Jun Hao had to retire through injury while trailing 7-11 in the deciding match, booking a meeting with Anders Antonsen.