Asian Games: Zii Jia beats world champ Vitidsarn to lead Malaysian contingent into last eight

The Malaysian should be heartened by this victory over the reigning world champion, but the road in this men's singles meet remains a challenging one with India's H. S. Prannoy to come next.

Against Kunlavut, Lee came to life in the second game in which he teerered close to elimination with the score 19-18 in favour of the Thai ace.

The world number 16 knew patience was key to unlocking his opponent's defence and bid his time to secure the final three points and take the game to a decider.

It was expected to be a cat and mouse game, but Lee beat Vitidsarn at his own game by preferring to stroke play rather than probe for attacking openings.

It worked like a charm, as Vitidsarn started to make mistakes and the game slipped away from him fast.

Ng Tze Yong joined Lee in the last eight after he also turned in a swashbuckling performance to oust Kanthaphon Wangcharoen 21-17, 21-12.

But Ng is also in for a stern test on Friday when he measures up against second seed Kodai Naraoka.

National mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei also came through with a hard fought 21-18, 21-18 victory over Indian pair K. Sai Pratheek-Tanisha Crasto sealed in 49 minutes.

The Malaysians have their work cut out for them in the last eight, with a showdown against top seeds and home favourites Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong looming next.

In the men's doubles, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik had a far easier time compared to their opening round match as they needed only 31 minutes to overcome Thai pair Supak Jomkoh-Kittinupong Kedren 21-12, 21-14, which sets them up against China's Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi.

The national contingent's triumphant day out was capped by Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, who swatted away their Thai opponents in straight games 21-15, 21-17.

Tan-Thinaah next play second seeded South Koreans Baek Ha-na-Lee Soo-hee for a place in the semi-finals.