KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 7 Lee Zii Jia stunned fourth seed Anders Antonsen on Friday to reach the men's singles semi-finals, keeping Malaysia's hopes alive of winning their first Olympic gold medal in Paris.
In a match between two friends, a well-prepared Zii Jia, the seventh seed, defeated world No. 3 Antonsen 21-17, 21-15 in the quarter-finals.
Zii Jia will play reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the semi-finals on Sunday.
Kunlavut surprisingly had it easy against top seed Shi Yu Qi of China, winning 21-12, 21-10 in his quarter-final match.
India's Lakshya Sen also reached the semi-finals following a 19-21, 21-15, 21-12 victory over Taiwan's Chou Tien Chen.
He will play reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark or former world champion Loh Kean Yew in the last four.