KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Zii Jia today showed Singapore's Loh Kean Yew who is the boss once again.
The Malaysian came out tops against the world champion in an epic clash, winning 21-18, 16-21, 22-20 in the Indonesia Open quarter-final at the Istora Senayan Stadium in Jakarta.
World No 5 Zii Jia clawed back from 16-18 in the rubber before saving a match point at 20-19 to prevail.
The Asian champion has now won five times in seven meetings against the Penang-born Kean Yew who has been his rival since childhood.
Zii Jia will meet either world No 1 Viktor Axelsen or home favourite Anthony Ginting in the last four.
"I think I got a bit lucky with that last point and I'm very happy to win today because Loh is getting his confidence and form back. Right from last week (at the Indonesia Masters), he's been really good," said Zii Jia.
"We both play a similar game especially with attacking being our strong point. So until the last few points, it all boiled down to focus and who made fewer unforced errors.
"After the match, I told Kean Yew it was very lucky for me. Again, there will always be winner and loser in a match. Hopefully I can bring this confidence into next round."
Kean Yew lamented about his lack of composure during the crucial moments. "I thought we were close throughout. It was a very intense match, especially during the last few points where I had the lead but couldn't finish off the game."
Meanwhile, it was sweet revenge for Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik as the Malaysian pair staged a remarkable comeback to beat Indonesia's Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Rambitan, who pipped them to the Asian crown in Manila last month.
The Olympic bronze medallists recovered brilliantly from 15-10 down before saving three match points at 20-17 to seal a 14-21, 21-12, 22-20 win in a pulsating 56-minute quarter-final battle.
Aaron could not believe their luck and admitted that their victory was helped by the fact that Yeremia had hurt his knee during the crucial stages.
"Honestly, the match was for our opponents to lose. When they were leading 20-18, I felt that we were 99.9% certain of losing," said Aaron.
"Unfortunately, Yeremia injured his knee. I didn't notice that initially."
Aaron-Wooi Yik will next face either Indonesia's Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto or China's Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi as they seek to reach their first Super 1000 final since their runners-up finish at the 2019 All England.
Aaron believes that he and Wooi Yik must make the most of the luck that they're riding on in their bid to win their first Open title.
"Today's win showed that the luck is on our side. We need to capitalise on this and not squander it now that we're in the semi-finals."