China were hoping to silence the home crowd at the Sultan Abdul Halim Stadium when they took on Malaysia in the first men’s semi-final.

Shi Yugi gave them the perfect start to the match, claiming a comfortable singles win over Lee Zii Jia, beating the Malaysian 21-18, 21-9.

Malaysia fought back the first doubles tie, Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong securing a 21-18, 21-12 success against He Jiting and Tan Qiang.

It proved only temporary respite for the hosts as Qiao Bin put China on the brink of victory by winning his singles match 21-17, 21-8 against Soong Joo Ven.

Home hopes rested on Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi winning their doubles match but they were beaten 21-15, 21-13 by Han Chengkai and Zhou Haodong, who completed a 3-1 win for China.

China are now to due face the challenge of defending champions Indonesia in the final after they won a thrilling tie against South Korea.

Indonesia appeared on course for a comfortable victory when Jonatan Christie won his singles match in straight games 21-18, 21-14 against Son Wan-ho, before Mohammed Ahsan and Angga Pratama replicated the feat in opening doubles tie.

Jeon Hyeok-jin triumphed 21-17, 21-16 against Ihsan Maulana Mustofa to spark a South Korean revival.

Then Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Duk-young won  11-21, 21-18, 21-19 against Rian Agung Saputro and Hendra Setiawan in the doubles.

A dramatic final match went the distance, with Indonesia’s Firman Abdul Kholik holding his nerve to win 22-20, 11-21, 22-20 against Lee Dong-Keun to take his team into the final.

There will be a repeat of the women’s team final from the 2016 event in India, where China beat Japan 3-2 to claim the title.

Both of their teams were largely untroubled in semi-final matches today, China easing to a 3-1 success against South Korea.

Japan defeated Indonesia by a 3-0 score in their last four match, although each of the three matches were ultimately three-game encounters.

Finals are due take place tomorrow.

The Asian Championships are acting as a qualifier for the Thomas and Uber Cups, the biennial World Championships contested by men's and women's national teams.

The Oceania Badminton Championships also continued in the city of Hamilton in New Zealand.

Tahiti’s Remi Rossi continued his impressive form, having produced a number of impressive displays in the team competition.

Rossi won his men’s singles semi-final 21-6, 17-21, 21-12 against Australia’s Peter Yan to progress to the gold medal match.

He will face Abhinav Manota of New Zealand, who overcame his compatriot Oscar Guo 20-22, 21-16, 21-17 in his semi-final.

Louisa Ma beat fellow Australian 21-18, 21-12 against Zecily Fung in the last four to set up a meeting against compatriot Wendy Chen, after the top seed enjoyed a walkover.

There will be an all Australian women’s doubles final after Setyana Mapasa and Gronya Somerville won 21-9, 21-18, 21-10 against Anona Pak and Danielle Tahuri of New Zealand.

The top seeds will now face Leanne Choo and Renuga Veeran as the Australian thrashed New Zealand’s Sally Fu and Alyssa Tagle 21-7, 21-4.

 Matthew Chau and Sawan Serasinghe beat New Zealand’s Oscar Guo and Dacmen Vong in the men’s doubles, while the second semi-final saw Robin Middleton and Ross Smith win an all Australian clash 20-22, 21-15, 21-18 against Simon Hang and Mitchell Wheller.