The 28-year-old from Odense overcame the up-and-coming talent of Japan's Kodai Naraoka in his semi-final, but it did not come easy as he had had to recover from losing the first game 21-23 before taking the next two 21-19, 21-18.

His opponent tomorrow in the Nimibutr Arena will be Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, who beat his Indonesian compatriot Jonatan Christie 21-15, 11-21, 21-18.

Following the earlier exit of the defending women's champion, South Korea's An Se-young, the pathway lay clear for a different winner.

Japan's Akane Yamaguchi, who inflicted the first of two defeats on An at this event, reached the final with a 21-19, 21-10 win over China's Chen Yufei. 

In the other semi-final, Chinese Taipei's former world number one Tai Tzu-ying earned a 21-18, 21-14 over the other Chinese contender, He Bingjiao.

While China's hopes disappeared in singles competition, they remain strongly in contention for medals elsewhere.

Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan won their all-Chinese semi-final against Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu 21-19, 21-13 to earn a place in the women's doubles final against home pairing Benyapa Aimsaard and Nunttakarn Aimsaard.

In the men’s doubles, China's Liu Yuchen and Qu Xuanyi earned a final place with a 22-20, 11-21, 21-19 win over Indonesia's Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto and will now meet another Indonesian pairing, Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan.

A Chinese pairing will also appear in the mixed doubles final after the 21-10, 21-15 win by Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong over Singapore’s Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing.

Their opponents will be another home pairing, Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai.