Lee Zii Jia triumphed in his men's singles tie as South Korea overcame Malaysia in the semi-finals in Suzhou ©Getty Images

South Korea sealed their place in the final of the Badminton World Federation Sudirman Cup for the first time in six years with victory over Malaysia in Surzhou, and are set to play host nation China in tomorrow's decider.

Malaysia started strongly only for South Korea to emerge victorious, triumphing 3-1 at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre in the Chinese city.

Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei got Malaysia off to a great start in the opening mixed doubles match, wining the first game before Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung turned the tie around.

The South Korean proved too strong in the next two games to complete a 11-21, 21-13, 21-7 success.

Malaysia hit back in the men’s singles with Lee Zii Jia seeing off Jeon Hyeok-jin 21-11, 21-9.

The match looked like it might go down to the wire but South Korea responded in superb style to Lee’s victory.

An Se-young saw off Karupathevan Letshanaa 21-10, 21-13 in the women’s singles before Na Sung-seung and Kim Won-ho defeated Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi-yik in the men’s doubles.

The victory means South Korea will advance to the final for the first time since 2017 when they beat China 3-2.

Chen Qingchen, right, and Jia Yifan, left, won the deciding women's doubles match to seal China's place in the Sudirman Cup final ©Getty Images
Chen Qingchen, right, and Jia Yifan, left, won the deciding women's doubles match to seal China's place in the Sudirman Cup final ©Getty Images

South Korea also captured the Sudirman Cup in 1991, 1993 and 2003 and finished runners-up in 1989, 1997, 2009 and 2013.

Their 2017 victory is the only blot on China's recent record at the mixed team tournament, as they have won eight of the last nine titles going back to 2005.

They faced a tough test against Japan in what was a repeat of the 2019 and 2021 final, but came through as 3-2 winners.

Kyohei Yamashita and Naru Shinoya put Japan into the lead with a tight 26-24, 18-21, 26-24 victory against Feng Yanzhe and Olympic gold medallist Huang Dongping.

Shi Yuqi came from behind to level 13-21, 21-15, 21-17 against Kodai Naraoka.

Back-to-back women's singles champion Akane Yamaguchi eased to a heavyweight women's singles clash against Olympic champion Chen Yufei 21-14, 21-15 to restore Japan's advantage, but men's doubles Olympic silver medallist Liu Yuchen and Ou Xuanyi forced a decider with a 17-21, 21-19, 22-20 win against Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi.

Three-time women's doubles world champions and Tokyo 2020 silver medallists Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan triumphed 21-11, 21-6 for China against Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota to seal their place in the final.