The world No 6 took 74 minutes to defeat the fifth-seeded Malaysian at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium, making it the sixth time he has won in 11 matches against Zii Jia in international tournaments.

The Malaysian was in devastating form in the first game with his accurate placings and sideline smashes. Jonatan’s unforced errors also helped Zii Jia to win the game 21-12 in just 14 minutes.

In the second game Zii Jia took a quick 11-7 lead at the break but Jonatan fought back hard to win 21-18 and force a rubber game. The third game saw both players fighting point for point before Jonatan won 21-18.

Jonatan will meet the winner of the quarter-final match between Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao and Japan’s Kodai Naraoka.

Zii Jia is eyeing a place in the World Tour Finals (WTF) to be played in Hangzhou, China from Dec 11-15.

The top eight players in the World Tour rankings will be eligible to play in the WTF. Following his quarter-final appearance today, Zii Jia needs to just qualify for the quarter-finals again in next week’s China Masters to earn his spot.