Malaysia will have two pairs in the semi-finals of the BWF World Tour Finals as Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai came good against their opponents in the final group game to make the knockout round.

Women’s doubles pair Chow-Lee provided the national contingent with the biggest cheer with a gritty display to oust Indonesian top seeds Greysia Polli-Apriyani Rahayu 21-13, 21-17.

The Malaysians went into the match as underdogs, but used that tag to their advantage and played a perfect counter-attacking game to stun their opponents.

Chow-Lee seized the initiative by leading all the way to take the first set 21-13, and when Greysia-Apriyani threw the kitchen sink at them in the second set, the world number 14 pair stood firm to cross the finish line at 21-17.

It was a powerful performance from the duo not seen by the rest of the national shuttlers in this tournament.

Victory was made memorable by the fact the pair did not know only a straight-set victory would carry them into the semis.

Lee said the pair’s strategy worked like a charm.

“We allowed them to attack first and counterattack back and that's the way we scored some points. Our confidence was high after the first game win. I think we need to work on our mental game for the semifinals. There are no 100 per cent certainties. Our spirit is to never give up,” she said.

In the mixed doubles, Goh-Shevon were also brilliant in disposing another Indonesian pair Hafiz Faizal-Gloria Emmanuelle Widjaja 17-21, 21-13, 21-13.

While both pairs put on an inspired showing, the rest exited the season finale with a whimper.

Last week’s Toyota Thailand Open finalists Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who did well to win their opening match, finished bottom of their group after losing 21-18, 17-21. 11-21 to Indonesians Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan.

Independent pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi also crashed out after losing their winners-take-all clash against Ben Lane-Sean Vendy 15-21, 13-21.

The other women’s doubles pair Vivian Hoo-Yap Cheng Wen ended their campaign with three defeats.