Lee Zii Jia into Thailand Open men's final; Chen to play Tai in women's – re-live semis as it happened

Malaysia's Lee is the last remaining seed in the men's competition defeated countryman Liew Daren in the last four in Bangkok. Follow Saturday's play, as it happened.

5 minBy ZK Goh
Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia at Tokyo 2020 
(2021 Getty Images)

Lee Zii Jia is through to the men's singles final at the Thailand Open 2022, a BWF Badminton World Tour Super 500 event, after beating fellow Malaysian Liew Daren in the semi-finals on Saturday (21 May).

Semi-final day at the Impact Arena in Bangkok also saw Olympic champion Chen Yufei of China knock out India's P.V. Sindhu in the women's singles, with top seed Tai Tzu-ying due to face Chen in a repeat of the Tokyo 2020 final after beating Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon in three games.

Lee's opponent in the men's singles final will be China's Li Shifeng, who came through a 93-minute marathon against Japan's Naraoka Kodai.

You can re-live the action with all of Olympics.com's updates as it happened below.

All times below are local time (UTC +7 hours). Most recent first.

6:16pm – Li Shifeng to face Zii Jia

After a marathon, in which both players clearly tired and took an age between points, Li Shifeng finally triumphs.

The Chinese sees off Naraoka 21-19, 16-21, 21-19 and it's he who will play Lee Zii Jia in tomorrow's final.

One hour and 33 minutes.

5:39pm – Naraoka levels

The Japanese takes seven of the last eight points in that game.

Naraoka takes it 21-16, and this match is level.

Li is struggling a little.

5:32pm – Li takes medical timeout

Li Shifeng, leading 14-13 in the second, has called for the doctor.

It's an ankle issue.

5:08pm – Li takes first game

In the second men's singles semi-final, China's Li Shifeng – the 2018 Youth Olympic Games champion – edges ahead.

After 25 minutes, he takes the opening game against Naraoka Kodai, 21-19.

4:32pm – Tai wins thriller

Tai stays at the net and forces Ratchanok onto the back foot.

She reverse slices for the winning shot.

That deciding game took nearly as long as the first two combined.

Tai wins, 10-21, 21-13, 21-19.

4:30pm – The game that keeps on giving

Tai levels at 16-16, then commits a service error.

They level again at 17-17, Intanon pulls ahead, then the Chinese Taipei athlete brings it back to 19-19.

Tai now has three straight points – and match point – at 20-19.

4:25pm – Battle of attrition

This decider has turned into a game of attrition.

Both players trading points and rallies.

Top badminton. Ratchanok leads 16-14.

4:16pm – Intanon holds lead at interval

The final interval sees Ratchanok holding on to a slim 11-9 advantage.

Both women are well in this match, and either could still win.

4:05pm – Tai forces decider

Well, that second game was pretty one-sided too.

Tai levels her semi against Ratchanok by taking the second 21-13.

Just 31 minutes played so far for two games.

4:00pm – Lee clinches it

Lee brings up six match points, and finishes it off with a cross-court smash away from Liew that he can't get to.

Lee Zii Jia is into the final, 21-16, 13-21, 21-14.

3:55pm – Tai right back in it

What is going on on Court 1? After that meek end to the first game, top seed Tai Tzu-ying has run out to an 11-2 lead at the interval of the second game against Ratchanok.

3:50pm – Change of ends

We've reached the interval in the decider between Lee and Liew, which means the players will now change ends for the last time.

Lee has the advantage, 11-7.

3:45pm – Intanon blows past Tai in opening game

Wow. Tai Tzu-ying's game collapsed in that opening game after the interval.

Ratchanok Intanon hits the interval a squeak ahead at 11-10.

Then rolls off 10 more points without reply to take it 21-10.

3:40pm – No comeback

Unlike yesterday when he was seven points down against Shesar Hiren Rhustavito, Lee does not mount a comeback in this game.

Liew Daren takes it 21-13, comfortably.

We'll need a decider.

3:32pm – Lee losing sharpness

Second interval now and it's Liew Daren who's up, 11-5.

Lee has not looked at the races in this second game.

3:23pm – Dechapol/Sapsiree to play Zheng/Huang in mixed final

Over on court 1, home favourites Dechapol and Sapsiree have just sent the Thai crowd into raptures after knocking out Olympic mixed doubles champions Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dongping in three games, 16-21, 21-12, 21-16. They'll face the other Chinese pair of Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong in the final.

Meanwhile, Lee holds off a charge from Liew to take the opener 21-16.

3:14pm – Interval

It looks like Lee is running away with the first game at 9-3 up.

But Liew does well to get a foot back in it.

They reach the first-game interval at 11-7 to Lee.

3:08pm – Play underway

The players are on court, the warm-ups are over, and Lee Zii Jia serves to get this match underway.

He takes the first three points before Liew gets on the board.

2:55pm – Welcome to our live updates

Welcome to today's live updates from the 2022 Thailand Open.

In just a few minutes, Lee Zii Jia and Liew Daren will face each other in an all-Malaysian clash to determine the first finalist in the men's singles tournament.

We'll also have updates from the women's semi-final between Tai Tzu-ying and Ratchanok Intanon.

Earlier, Chen Yufei beat PV Sindhu 21-17, 21-16, while in mixed doubles Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong eliminated Olympic bronze medallists Watanabe Yuta/Higashino Arisa.

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