Ratchanok Intanon and Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul moved into the semi-finals of the BWF Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, while Pitchamon Opatniputh exited at the hands of top seed Chen Yufei.
Second seed Ratchanok defeated fifth seed Line Christophersen of Denmark 21-16, 21-11. She will face another Danish player, Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt, in the last four of the Super 500 tournament.
Ratchanok is bidding to become the women's singles winner of the KL tournament for the third time. The 31-year-old is currently tied with India's Pusarla V Sindhu and China's Wang Zhiyi on two titles each.
If the Thai captures her third title, she will become the second most successful singles player behind Malaysian icon Lee Chong Wei, who holds five.
Top seed Chen proved too strong for rising star Pitchamon, claiming her third successive win against the 19-year-old 21-19, 21-9 in 44 minutes. She will play another upcoming star, Hina Akechi of Japan, in the last four.
In the men's singles quarters, Panitchaphon defeated Lu Guangzu of China 21-15, 21-18 to set up a meeting with third seed Christo Popov of France.
Fifth seed Li Shifeng and Hu Zhean, both from China, will face off in the other semi-final.
Mixed doubles pair Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Sapsiree Taerattanachai secured their place in the last four with a 23-21, 21-19 win over Chan Yin Chak and Ng Tsz Yau of Hong Kong.
The Thai duo will next play China's third seeds Guo Xinwa and Chen Fanghui, who edged past Presley Smith and Jennie Gai of the US 23-21, 22-20 on Friday.
Women's doubles pair Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn and Sabrina Sophita Wedler failed to progress, losing to Sayaka Hirota and Ayako Sakuramoto of Japan 11-21, 12-21.
