PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia (pic) is on a roll in his favourite hunting ground.
Yesterday, Zii Jia displayed patience and composure to come away with a 21-15, 21-12 win over Singapore’s 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew in just 33 minutes in the second round of the All-England at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.
The world No. 10 made a dream start by storming into a 8-0 lead and never looked back from there to seal the commanding victory.
It was Zii Jia’s sixth victory in eight of his past meetings with Kean Yew in international competitions.
The former is now just one win away from booking his spot in the semi-finals yet again in the prestigious tournament.
Zii Jia, who won the title in 2021, has never failed to at least make it into the last four since he started to compete in 2020.
Standing in his way in the last eight today is India’s 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lakshya Sen, who fought brilliantly to beat Denmark’s world No. 3 Anders Antonsen 24-22, 11-21, 21-14 in another second round clash.
Zii Jia was satisfied with his showing so far.
“I’m happy to win the match today (yesterday). I stayed patient, focused on my strategy and took my chances well,” Zii Jia told the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“Kean Yew was not at his best and made many unforced errors.
“Kean Yew and I are similar...when we are on our best form, we can beat anyone but when we are not performing well, we can also lose to anyone too.
“I’m happy with my own form so far in the tournament.”
Zii Jia is also happy to rediscover his form again after a poor outing in the French Open last week where he suffered a shock defeat to Denmark’s world No. 33 Magnus Johannesen in the first round.Meanwhile, it was despair for mixed doubles pairs Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, who both saw their respective campaigns come to an end.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei went down fighting 21-17, 19-21, 16-21 to Dutch pair Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek while Kian Meng-Pei Jing lost out 17-21, 11-21 to Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet.
In the men’s doubles, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun also suffered a 21-23, 18-21 defeat to Japan’s Akira Koga-Taichi Saito in the first round while women’s singles player Goh Jin Wei fell 15-21, 20-22 to China’s He Bingjiao.
RESULTS
Malaysians unless stated
First round
Men’s singles: Jonatan Christie (Ina) bt Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) 21-4, 21-15; Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Kanta Tsuneyama (Jpn) 21-18, 21-9; Shi Yuqi (Chn) bt Rasmus Gemke (Den) 18-21, 23-21, 21-19; Chico Aura (Ina) bt Priyanshu Rajawat (Ind) 21-19, 11-21, 21-9; Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Lu Guangzu (Chn) 19-21, 21-18, 21-15; Lakshya Sen (Ind) bt Magnus Johannesen (Den) 21-14, 21-14.
Men’s doubles: Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) 21-9, 21-19; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) 21-18, 21-14; Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan (Tpe) bt Vinson Chiu-Joshua Yuan (US) 21-6, 21-16; He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu (Chn) bt Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) 21-14, 21-13; Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Adam Dong-Nyl Yakura (Can) 21-14, 21-15; Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard (Den) bt Lu Ching-yao-Yang Po-han (Tpe) 21-17, 21-18; Akira Koga-Taichi Saito (Jpn) bt Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun 23-21, 21-18; Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto (Ina) bt Lee Fang-chih-Lee Fang-jen (Tpe) 21-13, 21-9.
Women’s singles: Kim Ga-eun (Kor) bt Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) 21-16, 21-18; Chen Yufei (Chn) bt Nguyen Thuy Linh (Vie) 21-16, 21-12; Carolina Marin (Spa) bt Sung Shuo-yun (Tpe) 21-18, 24-22; He Bingjiao (Chn) bt Goh Jin Wei 21-15, 22-20; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Zhang Yiman (Chn) 21-18, 22-20; Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Aya Ohori (Jpn) 21-11, 21-17; An Se-young (Kor) bt Wen Chi-hsu (Tpe) 21-17, 21-16; Busanan Ongbamrungphan (Tha) bt Gao Fangjie (Chn) 17-21, 21-14, 23-21.
Women’s doubles: Kim So-yeong-Kong Hee-yong (Kor) bt Li Yijing-Luo Xumin (Chn) 21-14, 4-5, ret, Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) bt Francesca Corbett-Allison Lee (US) 21-13, 21-19; Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida (Jpn) bt Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai (Tha) 21-16, 21-14; Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (Chn) bt Hsu Ya-ching-Lin Wan-ching (Tpe) 21-10, 15-21, 21-16; Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu (Chn) bt Jeong Na-eun-Kim Hye-jeong (Kor) 21-12, 22-20; Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota (Jpn) bt Maiken Fruergaard-Sara Thygesen (Den) 15-21, 21-19, 21-13; Tanisha Crasto-Ashwini Ponnappa (Ind) bt Yeung Nga Ting-Yeung Pui Lam (Hkg) 21-13, 21-18; Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) Rutaparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda (Ind) 21-9, 21-9.
Mixed doubles: Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Kenneth Choo-Gronya Somerville (Aus) 21-12, 21-11; Terry Hee-Jessica Tan (Sin) bt Yang Po-hsuan-Hu Ling-fang (Tpe) 23-21, 19-21, 21-12; Kim Won-ho-Jeong Na-eun (Kor) bt Ty Alexander-Josephine Wu (Can) 21-14, 21-16; Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (Jpn) bt Kyohei Yamashita-Naru Shinoya (Jpn) 21-12, 21-16; Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek (Ned) bt Mathias Thyrri-Amalie Magelund (Den) 14-21, 21-13, 24-22; Supak Jomkoh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) bt Ruttanapak Oupthong-Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat (Tha) 21-16, 19-21, 21-14; Reginald Lee-Ng Tsz Yau (Hkg) bt Yuki Kaneko-Misaki Matsutomo (Jpn) 21-19, 21-15.
Second round
Men’s singles: Lee Zii Jia bt Loh Kean Yew (Sin) 21-15, 21-12; Anthony Ginting (Ina) bt Kenta Nishimoto (Jpn) 21-18, 21-19; Koki Watanabe (Jpn) bt Toma Popov (Fra) 21-18, 23-21.
Women’s singles: An Se-young (Kor) bt P. V. Sindhu (Ind) 21-19, 21-11; Han Yue (Chn) bt Pai Yu-po (Tpe) 21-12, 22-20; Tai Tzu-ying (Tpe) bt Kim Ga-eun (Kor) 21-17, 21-15; He Bingjiao (Chn) bt Michelle Li (Can) 21-9, 21-9.
Women’s doubles: Rena Miyaura-Ayako Sakuramoto (Jpn) bt Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti (Ina) 14-21, 21-10, 21-16.
Mixed doubles: Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek (Ned) bt Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei 17-21, 21-19, 21-16; Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet (Hkg) bt Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing 21-17, 21-11; Ye Hong-wei-Lee Chia-hsin (Tpe) bt Supak Jomkoh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) 21-19, 21-15.
