KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian badminton fan favourite Lee Zii Jia once again fell short after being outclassed by world number 37 Koki Watanabe of Japan in the semi-final of the Swiss Open early this morning.
The world number four lost 21-11, 21-14 at the St Jakobshalle Arena in Basel.
It was their first meeting, but it looked like Zii Jia was no match against his Japanese opponent as Watanabe dominated the game and won the match in 27 minutes.
Watanabe will take on Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen in the final today after the latter stunned world number one player Viktor Axelsen in the other semi-final.
The Taiwanese player won 21-10, 21-15.
This is the second time the Danish player was beaten this year after his shocking defeat against Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong at the All England recently.
Meanwhile, men’s doubles pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi’s Swiss Open campaign was ended by India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty.
The Malaysian pair lost 21-19, 17-21, 21-17 to the Indians in the semi-final last night.
This win means that the Indian pair has now won three times out of their six meetings against them.
Rankireddy-Shetty will take on China’s Ren Xiang Yu-Tan Qiang in the final today.
The Chinese pair beat England’s Ben Lane-Sean Vendy 21-10, 21-17 in the other semi-final. – The Vibes, March 26, 2023
