The world No 10 pair went down fighting to the unranked Thai pair in a match that lasted more than an hour. Soon Huat-Shevon had beaten them at the Finland Open earlier this year.

While the Malaysians had it a little easy in the first game winning 21-18 in 18 minutes, Dwechapol-Supissara led all the way in the second game to win 22-20 in 24 minutes and force a rubber game. The third game again saw the Thai pair leading all the way too before winning 21-14.

The Thais will play the winners of the other semi-final match between China’s Guo Xin Wa-Chen Fang Hui and Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue from France in the final tomorrow.

Shuttlers in this tournament are fighting hard for the top eight spots in the World Tour rankings, to qualify for the World Tour Finals (WTF) to be played in Hangzhou, China, from Dec 11 to 15.

With their semi-final appearance here, Soon Huat-Shevon are likely to have booked their place as they are currently No 3 in the World Tour rankings in the mixed doubles category.

The China Masters next week will be the final chance for players to gain points and secure their position in the WTF.