KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — National professional men’s singles ace Lee Zii Jia was knocked out in the third round of the World Badminton Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, by home shuttler Anders Antonsen yesterday, ending his bid for his maiden world title.
The unseeded Zii Jia lost in straight sets (18-21, 17-21) to the 12th seeded Dane in 53 minutes, failing to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament held in Royal Arena.
Antonsen’s victory sets the stage for him to face Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto, who downed compatriot Kanta Tsuneyama 21-19, 21-17 in another third-round match.
Malaysia’s hope now rests on three pairs — reigning men’s doubles champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, national top women’s doubles duo Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, and mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei — who successfully made the cut to the quarter-finals, to be held later today.
In the last eight, Aaron-Wooi Yik will meet Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi of China, while Pearly-Thinaah are set to battle another Chinese duo, Zheng Su Xian-Zheng Yu.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei will be up against Japan’s Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino.
— Bernama
