[UPDATED] Tokyo blues: Zii Jia out in first round of Japan Open

KUALA LUMPUR – No luck in Japan for national badminton player Lee Zii Jia as he crashed out in the first round of the Japan Open after losing to India’s Srikanth Kidambi 22-20, 23-21 today.

It was a close battle at the Maruzen Intec Arena in Osaka with world No. 14 Srikanth taking the lead going into the second set.

But fourth seed Zii Jia’s efforts to catch up was unsuccessful as the Indian player wrapped up his win in straight sets.

This is the third time the pair have met. Zii Jia won the previous two encounters with the last meeting being the BWF World Tour Finals 2021 where he won 21-19, 21-14.

This is the second tournament in Japan that Zii Jia did not make into the final rounds. He failed to enter the World Championships quarter-finals last week after being defeated by China’s Zhao Jun Peng 21-19, 11-21, 21-19.

Srikanth will either play Taiwan’s Wang Tzu Wei or Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama tomorrow in the second round.

Earlier today, mixed doubles pair Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing defeated compatriots Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See 21-10, 21-14, while Goh Soon Huat-Lai Shevon Jemie, and Hoo Pang Ron-Toh Ee Wei also made it to the second round tomorrow.

In women’s doubles, Commonwealth Games gold medallists Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan won against second-ranked South Korean duo Lee So Hee-Shin Seung Chan 16-21, 21-14, 21-18 yesterday.

Joining them in the second round is Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien who took down Germany’s Linda Efler-Isabel Lohau 21-17, 23-21.

Later, veteran Malaysian player Liew Daren will take on Japan’s Kodai Naraoka, while men’s doubles pair Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah will face Supak Jomkoh-Kittinupong Kedren of Thailand, and Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi will play Dutch players Ruben Jille-Ties Van Der Lecq. – The Vibes, August 31, 2022