KUALA LUMPUR: Asian champion Ng Eain Yow played his heart out to upset France's world No. 12 Victor Crouin for a place in the semi-finals of the US$120,000 Singapore Open today.
The world No. 14 Malaysian, who won the Malaysia Cup last week, came back from a set down to win 9-11, 12-10, 11-1, 6-11, 20-18 at the Singapore Sports Hub.
At 107 minutes, it was the longest match of the tournament so far, with the fifth game alone lasting a lengthy 39 minutes.
It was the longest match ever played by Eain Yow since turning professional 10 years ago.
Fifth seed Eain Yow will face world No. 1 Ali Farag of Egypt for a place in the final.
The 26-year-old Eain Yow said: "I was just surviving, it just kept going on and on. At some stage I just switched off and played every ball. I'm not really sure what happened at the end, I'm just happy to get through.
"I've not been getting over the line with the top guys, I've been losing in five and I've been disappointed not to get through the rounds.
"I feel like I'm starting to make more inroads now. If you look at me playing overseas, I wouldn't try to get the crowd going, but today I tried to get them on my side."
In the women's competition, world No. 9 S. Sivasangari sealed a place in the semi-finals by coming back from a set down to beat world No. 13 Fayrouz Aboelkheir of Egypt 9-11,11-3, 7-11, 11-8, 11-2 in 46 minutes.
"I think it was more of a mental battle than anything else. I had never played her before, she's a talented player.
"It was tricky, I couldn't really find the rhythm of my game as she was trying to break it down with time wasting and short rallies. But I'm glad I manage to keep calm especially in the 4th and 5th, and stay mentally strong to win the match."
Fourth seed Sivasangari will face world No. 7 and second seed Nele Coll of Belgium or world No. 10 and fifth seed Amina Orfi of Egypt in the semi-finals.