Tie Yana defeated fifth seed Ai Fukuhara on route to the semi-finals ©Getty Images

Hong Kong’s Tie Yana produced two impressive performances to advance to the semi-finals of the women’s draw at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Qatar Open at the Ali bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena in Al Sadd Sports Club in Doha.

The 36-year-old had beaten the fifth seeded Japanese star Ai Fukuhara at the Hungarian Open earlier this year and replicated  the feat in a gruelling contest lasting for the full seven games.

Fukuhara had looked poised to reach the last eight when she won two straight games to take a 3-2 lead but Yana forced a decider by winning the sixth 11-8.

She maintained the momentum to dominate the closing stages and win 11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 7-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-5.

Yana built on that triumph to claim an 8-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 victory over France’s Li Xue in their quarter-final tie.

Her reward for the victories will be a semi-final contest against second seed Ding Ning after the Chinese player defeated Germany’s Han Ying 11-5, 11-4, 11-6, 11-4.

Top seed Liu Shiwen cruised into the semi-finals as the Chinese star overcame Germany’s Petrissa Solja 12-10, 11-2, 11-4, 13-11.

She will face her compatriot Zhu Yuling, who ended the impressive run of Chinese Taipei’s Chen Szu-Yu by winning 11-6, 11-8, 11-2, 11-6.

Top seed Liu Shiwen cruised into the women's semi-finals
Top seed Liu Shiwen cruised into the women's semi-finals ©Getty Images

Japan’s Fukuhara and Ito Mima reached the women’s doubles final after claiming a 11-6, 11-9, 12-10 win over Poland’s Katarzyna Grzybowska and Natalia Partyka.

They will face China’s Liu and Ding for the gold medal after they triumphed 11-9, 11-8, 11-3 against Singapore’s Feng Tianwei and Zhou Yihan.

China will also be represented in the men’s final after Fan Zhendong and Zhang Jike battled to an 11-6, 14-12, 6-11, 7-11, 11-7 win over Japan’s Masataka Morizono and Yuya Oshima.

The second Japanese pairing of Koki Niwa and Maharu Yoshimura will pose a threat in the final, the duo having defeated South Korea’s Jung Youngsik and Lee Sangsu 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-8.

Shocks proved to be spare in the men’s singles quarter-finals with fifth seed Dimitrij Ovtcharov of Germany claiming a  5-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-7, 12-10 win over Chinese fourth seed Zhang Jike.

He will now face top seed Ma Long, with the Chinese star defeating Hong Kong's Chun Ting Wong 11-6, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9.

Xu Xin claimed a 11-8, 11-6, 11-5, 6-11, 6-11, 11-8 victory over Japan's Jun Mizutani to set up an all Chinese semi-final against Fan Zhendong, who defeated Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5.