Ginting showed his intent to defend his men’s singles title stoutly when he quickly won the first game, 21-13 in 18 minutes with his speed and powerful smashes.

Li, the reigning All England Open champion, then stopped the 26-year-old in his tracks momentarily when he won the second game 21-16.

Ginting, however, proved too strong for the Chinese as he clinched the decider 21-12.

“I feel I’ve improved a lot as a player since winning the Singapore Open title last year. Despite losing the second game, I was still feeling confident and pleased I’m through to the semifinals,” said Ginting.

The Indonesian will go head-to-head with world No 3 Kunlavut Vitidsarn for the sixth time after the Thai outclassed France’s Christo Popov in straight games 21-13, 21-17 in a contest that lasted 40 minutes.

“I’m so happy I managed to win the match in two straight games instead of three today. It has been tiring and I’m pleased I managed to control the draught which was key to my victory today,” said Kunlavut.

In an all-Japanese battle between Akane Yamaguchi and Aya Ohori in the women’s singles quarterfinals, Akane lived up to her billing as the world No 1 with a 21-18, 19-21, 21-16 win over her compatriot.

Akane will next take on China’s Chen Yu Fei, who overcame Thailand’s Supanida Katethong 17-21, 21-19, 21-17.

South Korea’s An Se-young, the world No 2, also progressed after ousting China’s Wang Zhi Yi in straight games 21-18, 21-18.