Unseeded home hope Lee Zii Jia lost his semi-final at the BWF Malaysia Masters event ©Getty Images

Unseeded home hope Lee Zii Jia saw his outstanding run at the Badminton World Federation Malaysia Masters come to an abrupt end in today's semi-finals, defeated by Japanese world champion and world number one Kento Momota.

Lee had beaten China’s seventh seed Shi Yu Qi in the quarter-finals of this World Tour Super 500 event at Kuala Lumpur's Axiata Arena, but he was unable to withstand the power and guile of Momota, losing 10-21, 19-21.

Momota's opponent in tomorrow's final is the world champion of 2017, Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, who followed up victory over China's Olympic champion Chen Long with an assured semi-final win over unseeded Ka Long Ng of Hong Kong, 21-14, 21-18.

In the women's semi-finals, China's second seed Chen Yu Fei earned a 21-15, 21-14 win over Spain's Rio 2016 Olympic Games champion and three-times world champion Carolina Marin, who returned to top-class action last September after a serious knee injury.

The seeding has worked out perfectly in the women's event, as Chen's opponent in the final will be top seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei, who won her semi-final against China's seventh seed He Bing Jiao 21-17, 21-12.