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Kuala Lumpur: Men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia is the only Malaysian left standing in the 2023 Australian Open, making it into the semifinals.

In the quarterfinal clash at the Quaycentre arena in Sydney today, Zii Jia was forced to work hard for 83 minutes before successfully seeing off compatriot Ng Tze Yong.

The Kedah-born Zii Jia lost the first set 17-21 before coming back to win the match 26-24, 21-19.

The world number 17 is set to take on Weng Hong Yang of China who won 21-10, 21-16 against the tournament’s fifth seed, Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan, in another quarterfinal match.

Today’s victory comes as a relief to Zii Jia who bowed out in the first round of the last four tournaments he participated in, namely the Singapore Open, Indonesia Open, Korea Open and Japan Open.

Meanwhile, national men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who were the second seeds in the tournament, failed to make it to the semifinals after a shock 15-21, 17-21 loss to Taiwan’s Lu Ching Yao-Yang Po Han.