Kuala Lumpur: Unseeded Soo Teck Zhi of Malaysia continued a strong run of form at Thailand International Challenge where he defeated Japanese player Kodai Naraoka 21-14, 21-19 to advance to the semi-finals.
Soo will face No. 5 seeds Pannawit Thongnuam of Thailand in the next round.
The 21-year-old Pannawit Thongnuam who is also the boyfriend of former World No. 1 women’s singles player Ratchanok Intanon, pulled off the biggest upset on Thursday by outlasting No. 2 seed Subhankar Dey of India 21-9, 21-14 in 50 minutes.
Thongnuam remained cautious when he was asked about facing Soo in the semi-finals.
“Soo is a tough player, it’s going to be 50-50. I lost to him in 2013 and 2015, I hope to play my best to beat him this time,” said Thongnuam.
In addition to Soo, two men’s doubles pairs from Malaysia also through to the semi-finals. No. 6 seeds Lee Jian Yi/Lim Zhen Ting and No. 4 seeds Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub/Jagdish Singh will battle each other for a spot in the final on Saturday.
