KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — Professional men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia began his Arctic Open title defence by ousting Frenchman Christo Popov 21-15, 21-11 at the Energia Areena in Vantaa, Finland today.
The world number four needed 43 minutes to clear the first hurdle of the World Tour Super 500 event.
In the second round, the Paris Olympics bronze medallist is set to face Japan’s Yushi Tanaka, who beat China’s Lei Lan Xi 21-17, 27-29, 21-16.
The 26-year-old Lee clinched the title last October after beating compatriot Ng Tze Yong in the final to end his 17-month title drought on the World Tour.
Since wining the Olympics bronze, he suffered first-round eliminations in two consecutive World Tour events — the Japan Open and the China Open.
However, Malaysia’s other men’s singles representative Leong Jun Hao suffered a first-round exit after losing 19-21, 9-21 to Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu.
Meanwhile, the country’s main men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who appeared for the first time after the 2024 Paris Olympics, lived up to expectations by advancing to the second round of the Artic Open when they beat China’s Chen Bo Yang-Liu Yi 21-18, 21-18 in straight sets.
Waiting for Chia-Soh tomorrow will be the winner in another action involving the Czech Republic pair Jiri Kral-Ondrej Kral who face England’s Ben Lane-Sean Verdy.
Earlier, the winners of the 2024 China Open, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Mohd Rumsani also reached the second round of the Artic Open after beating Danish pair Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard in a rubber set 11-21, 23-21, 21-15.
Goh-Izzuddin will meet Japanese pair Keny Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura for a place in the quarter-finals, tomorrow.
Another men’s doubles pair, currently ranked 13th, are Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, who managed to win their match over the Indonesian pair Leo Rolly Carnado-Bagas Maulana 17-21, 21 -18, 21-12.
The duo will meet Scottish pair Alexander Dunn-Adam Pringle in the second round of action tomorrow.
However, their teammates Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King were forced to book their tickets for home early after losing to Lin Bing Wei-Su Ching Heng from Taiwan, 17-21, 19-21.
— Bernama
