NG Tze Yong's impressive run in his Super 500 debut ended yesterday, after crashing out in the semi-finals of the India Open in New Delhi.
Tze Yong - who bagged three lower tier titles last year - Belgian International, Polish and Scottish Opens - fought tooth and nail before succumbing 19-21, 21-16, 21-12 to India's Lakshya Sen in a match that lasted one hour and seven minutes.
While the 22-year-old Malaysian rued his missed chances, third seed Lakshya will be looking for revenge when he takes on world champion, Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the final today.
The Penang-born Singaporean made his first final of the year without having to lift his racquet, after his semi-final opponent, Brian Yang of Canada conceded a walkover.
Late last year, Kean Yew had defeated Lakshya in the semi-finals of the Hylo Open in Saarbrücken en route to clinching the title.
Meanwhile in the men's doubles, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi also fell short in their bid to reach their maiden final this season, following a 21-15, 21-18 loss to top seeds Muhammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia.
The Indonesians will face the winners of the semi-final match between France's Fabien Delrue-William Villeger and India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, in the final.
Earlier in an all Malaysian mixed doubles semi-final, Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei upset top seeds Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing 21-19, 21-23, 21-14.
"We are very excited to make our first Super 500 final, but I admit that we still have a lot to learn from our seniors.
"Ahead of our match tomorrow, we will give our best and come up with a strategy together with our coach," said Tang Jie.
The third seeded Malaysians will play Singapore's Terry Hee-Tan Wei Han in the final.
