KUALA LUMPUR - National men’s singles ace Lee Zii Jia crashed out of the Denmark Open quarterfinals after narrowly losing to Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen at the Odense Sports Park.
Axelsen, the world’s number two shuttler, ousted Zii Jia 21-19, 21-19 in 39 minutes to book a slot in the semi-finals, where he will take on against Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong.
The victory was a sweet revenge for Axelsen, who lost to Zii Jia at the All England 2021 final in March.
With Zii Jia out, men's doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani are the only Malaysian representative left in the tournament.
Sze-Fei-Nur Izzuddin continued their fine run by beating Indonesians Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto in the quarterfinals and will take on Denmark’s Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen tonight. Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian were part of the triumphant Indonesian Thomas Cup squad last week.
The Malaysians have lost all their three previous meetings with the Danish pair.
“The last time we met at the Swiss (Open), we lost. We don’t want to comment too much; we will do our best and prove that we can, Insya Allah (God willing),” said Nur Izzuddin in a video shared with local reporters. – Bernama, October 23, 2021
