Third seed Chu-Huan Yi of Chinese Taipei carved out a hard-fought victory over fifth seed Tushar Liberhan to prevent an all-Indian semi-final line-up in the boys' event in the Asian Junior tennis championships in Delhi on Thursday.
After top seed Karan Rastogi, second seed Somdev Verman and fourth seed Arun Prakash Rajagopalan booked berths in the last four, the Taipei player ensured it did not become an entirely "home affair" by prevailing over Liberhan 7-6(10/8), 4-6, 6-4.
But it was not as good a day for the hosts in the girls' section, as only second seed Isha Lakhani could successfully carry the Indian flag to the next stage.
It was Yi who enthralled the handful of tennis lovers witnessing the match with his booming serve and volley game in a tie which extended to over two hours.
The left-hander, who made no effort to hide his emotions during the game, kept his cool on important points and came up with big winners to fix a date with Rastogi.
Earlier, Rastogi had little trouble in defeating wild card Sanam Singh 6-3, 6-0.
In other quarter-finals, Rajagopalan crushed lucky loser Chun-Yuan Chen of Chinese Taipei 6-0, 6-0 while Verman thrashed eighth seed Sunu Wahyu Trijati of Indonesia 6-0, 6-2.
In fact, it was advantage Liberhan in the first set. But the Indian squandered two sets points to lose the set in the tie-breaker.
Even though Liberhan took the next to draw level, Yi had settled down by then and looked more and more comfortable as the game progressed.
The Taipei player broke Liberhan's serve in the first and the fifth game of the decider on his way to the last four where he meets Rastogi tomorrow.
In the girls' quarter-finals, Lakhani came under no pressure against Pichittra Thongdach of Thailand, packing her off at 6-2, 6-4.
She now meets third seed Wen-Hsin Hsu of Chinese Taipei, who got the better of eighth seed Ankita Bhambri 6-2, 6-3 in just over an hour and 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, unseeded Liu Wang-Ting of China continued her dream run as he overcame stiff resistance from Ayufani Damayanti of Indonesia 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.
In the last four, the Chinese will play against top seed Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Taipei.
Chan packed off Kartiki Bhat, who had accounted for fifth seed Madura Ranganathan yesterday, 6-3 7-5.
Results (Indians unless specified):
Boys' (under-18): Karan Rastogi bt Sanam Singh 6-4, 6-0; Somdev Verman bt Sunu Trijati (INA) 6-0, 6-2; A Rajagopalan bt Chun-Yuan Chen (TPE) 6-0, 6-0; Chu-Huan Yi (PTE) bt Tushar Liberhan 7-6(10/8), 4-6, 6-4.
Girls' (under-18): Yung Chan (TPE) bt Kartiki Bhat 6-1, 6-3; Isha Lakhani bt P Thongdach (THA) 6-2, 6-4; Wen Hsu (TPE) bt Ankita Bhambri 6-2, 6-3; Liu Wang-Ting (CHN) bt A Damayanti (INA) 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.
