Wang Zhiyi's fightback and victory rescued Chinese hopes of making the final at the BWF Junior Mixed World Team Championships in Canada ©BWF

Wang Zhiyi's heroics saved the day for China after the defending champions were one point away from a stunning semi-final defeat at the Badminton World Federation's Junior Mixed World Team Championships in Markham, Canada.

With her team 2-1 down, the Youth Olympic Games silver medallist survived two match points against Japan's Hirari Mizui before coming through some marathon rallies to win at the Pan Am Centre.

Mizui had also shown huge determination in coming from behind to get within a point of victory.

Her loss meant that Japan are still searching for a first World Juniors title while China proceeded to their fifth straight final.

China have 12 titles in total, including all four since 2014.

The other semi-final saw South Korea overpower Indonesia 3-1.

Hiroki Midorikawa and Natsu Saito had provided the early breakthrough for Japan in the mixed doubles, beating Guo Xinwa and Liu Xuanxuan 17-21, 23-21, 21-12.

Then followed an epic battle between China's Youth Olympic champion Li Shifeng and Japan's bronze medallist Kodai Naraoka.

Japan's Youth Olympic Games bronze medallist Kodai Naraoka won a 90-minutes marathon against China's gold medallist Li Shifeng to put Japan 2-0 up in their semi-final, but the Chinese came back to win 3-2 ©BWF
Japan's Youth Olympic Games bronze medallist Kodai Naraoka won a 90-minutes marathon against China's gold medallist Li Shifeng to put Japan 2-0 up in their semi-final, but the Chinese came back to win 3-2 ©BWF

Despite having to receive treatment for cramp, Naraoka crossed the line first after a marathon 90 minutes, winning 21-12, 19-21, 21-18.

China, 2-0 down, reduced the deficit through the men's doubles pairing of Di Zijian and Wang Chang, who beat Hiroki Midorikawa and Hiroki Nakayama in straight games.

The match tipped with Wang's epic victory over Mizui to level the score at 2-2, with Japan's women's doubles duo Shiena Fukumoto and Natsu Saito losing 21-13, 21-15, to Liu Xuanxuan and Xia Yuting in the fifth and final contest.

"I didn't think too much, I was just very focussed," Wang said.

"The most important thing was that my mind had to be calm at the end.

"During the group matches, I was tired, but because of the pressure today I didn't think about the tiredness.

"I made the turning point for China, so I'm very happy."

Jang Eun Seo and Lee Jung Hyun won their women's doubles to give South Korea a 3-1 win over Indonesia in the second semi-final at Markham ©BWF
Jang Eun Seo and Lee Jung Hyun won their women's doubles to give South Korea a 3-1 win over Indonesia in the second semi-final at Markham ©BWF

The pivotal point in the Korean win was the first match, where both men's doubles pairs were closely matched.

Shin Tae Yang and Wang Chan eventually put South Korea ahead by defeating Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin, 21-18, 16-21, 21-17.

Park Ga Eun made it 2-0 by winning her women's singles match over Putri Kusuma Wardhini, 21-18, 21-18, before Indonesia were revived by Leonardo Rumbay, who took just 39 minutes to win his men's singles clash against Jeong U Min.

But South Korea's women's doubles duo of Jang Eun Seo and Lee Jung Hyun proved too strong for Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Ribka Sugiarto, winning 21-19, 21-17, to give their team a shot at a third mixed team title.