National shuttler Lee Chong Wei beat his arch rival, two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan, 15-21, 21-11, 22-20 in an epic semi-final showdown in Rio de Janeiro.

Chong Wei will meet either Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen or China’s Chen Long in a gold-medal match on Saturday, August 20 at 8.20pm.

This was the third encounter for Chong Wei and Lin Dan in the Olympics, having previously met at the men's finals of the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics.

World number one Chong Wei romped through to the semi-final after defeating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-9, 21-15 in the quarter-final.

Malaysia will have another chance at a gold medal later today when men's doubles pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong take on China’s Fu Haifeng-Zhang Nan at 10.15pm.