Thai men's singles star Kunlavut Vitidsarn and mixed doubles duo Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai will play in the semi-finals of the US$1.25 million Malaysia Open today.
In yesterday's quarter-finals at Kuala Lumpur's Axiata Arena, eighth seed Kunlavut upset third seed Loh Kean Yew, the 2021 world champion from Singapore, 21-11, 20-22, 21-14.
Second seeds Dechapol and Sapsiree beat home players Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei 21-19, 21-9.
The Thais take on Japan's third seeds Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino in the last four today.
In his first maiden BWF World Tour Super 1000 semi-final, Kunlavut, 21, faces Japan's Kodai Naraoka who eliminated India's Prannoy HS 21-16, 19-21, 21-10.
Asked if Loh's huge support at Axiata Arena affected his game, Kunlavut, the runner-up at the 2022 world championships, said: "I had my supporters too. I could hear them shouting 'keep fighting' in Thai and that was enough to boost me."
Yesterday's win was the Thai's third straight over the Singaporean but Kunlavut played down his recent superiority over the 2021 world champion.
"I don't think too much about these things. I try to focus on my performance and that's the approach that always works best for me," said the world No.9, who will play in his second consecutive Malaysia Open semi-final.
Kunlavut added: "I'm still learning but I realise taking things slow and steady helps. Big tournaments have big players and you must extract more out of yourself. Step by step, don't think too much, stay patient. That keeps the pressure away and optimises the output."
In the other men's singles quarter-finals, Japan's Kanta Tsuneyama beat Indonesia's Anthony Ginting 21-14, 21-16, and top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark saw off Kenta Nishimoto from Japan 21-6, 21-12.