KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 10 Lee Zii Jia is thrilled he finally made his semi-final breakthrough of the season at the Thailand Open.
The 26-year-old, however, was made to sweat before achieving it at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok today.
Zii Jia, who helped Malaysia reach the semi-finals of the recent Thomas Cup, edged world No. 19 Lu Guang Zu 21-13, 16-21, 21-18 in the quarter-finals, making it his fifth career win over the Chinese shuttler in seven meetings.
The Malaysian, who won the tournament in 2022, will face eighth seed Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan, who caused an upset by defeating second seed Kodai Naraoka of Japan 21-14, 21-15 in his quarter-final match today.
Zii Jia, who made the semi-final at the Denmark Open last year, hopes to do one better and reach the final when he faces Tien Chen tomorrow.
"I have qualified for my first semi-final of the year. I have been through many quarter-final appearances, and today is a breakthrough after so long.
"It is definitely a good step forward. Tomorrow, I will face Tien Chen, who is an experienced opponent. We know each other's game well," said Zii Jia after his win today.
While he is pleased with the breakthrough, Zii Jia's priority is the Paris Olympics in July.
"I am using tournaments to improve my performance for the Paris Olympics. I will fight and give my best in every tournament before the Games," Zii Jia added.
Zii Jia hopes to end Malaysia's gold-medal wait in Paris.