Lee Zii Jia stamped his mark at the Hylo Open by staging a sensational comeback to beat Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen 21-13, 22-20 in the quarter-finals.

The Malaysian had a stuttering start to this tournament after being pushed to the wire in the first round against 36-year-old Pablo Abian, before improving in the second round in his straight game win over Nhat Nguyen.

But Lee was a completely different player in this quarter-final tie against a formidable opponent who was, on paper, ready to give him a challenging test.

The world number eight started the first game in ferocious fashion, and constantly found winners with his crosscourt smashes that left the Thai youngster flat footed.

Lee coasted the opening game to win 21-13, and Kantaphon was expected to return with a much improved performance in the second.

The world number 18 did just that, racing to a 16-6 lead that even Lee could have been forgiven if he had let that game go to prepare for the decider.

But the Malaysian displayed a feisty side to his game not seen in a long time, as he racked up 11 consecutive points by raising the tempo of the contest to another level which left his opponent dumbfounded.

The victory was eventually sealed, and Lee celebrated by letting out a huge roar to show what that comeback meant to him.

The All-England champion is set to face either K.Srikanth or Angus Ng Ka Long for a place in the final on Saturday.

Without several top shuttlers like Kento Momota, Viktor Axelsen and Anthony Ginting in the mix, Lee, whose last title was the All-England in March, is seen as one of the hot favourites to win this Super 500 event.

Lee is the last Malaysian standing after mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei lost 18-21, 13-21 to Thailand's Supak Jomkoh-Supissara Paewsampran.