KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 7 Lee Zii Jia met his arch rival today, and that was the end of his challenge at the Kumamoto Masters.
The independent shuttler lost 12-21, 21-18, 21-18 to Indonesia's World No. 6 Jonatan Christie after a 64-minute battle in the quarter-finals.
It was the Malaysian's sixth defeat to Jonatan in 11 career meetings.
Jonatan will face Malaysian Leong Jun Hao or Kodai Naraoka of Japan in the last four.
Meanwhile independent pair Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong continued their giant-killing run by reaching the men's doubles semi-finals.
World No. 40 Azriyn-Wee Kiong overcame Taiwan's new combination, Chiu Hsiang Chieh-Wang Chi Lin 21-19, 21-19 today in a 33-minute quarter-final showdown.
Earlier, world No. 59 Hsiang Chieh-Chi Lin had toppled Malaysia's world No. 6 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in the second round.
Azriyn-Wee Kiong will meet former world champions Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi of Japan in the last four.