KUALA LUMPUR – Home crowd favourite Lee Zii Jia breezed into the second round of the Malaysia Open after taking down Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen 21-15, 21-11 today at the Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil.
Zii Jia took the court as fans were riled up getting to see the nation’s top shuttler in action. Nguyen gave Zii Jia a challenge, but the world number five was unphased by his opponent.
“It felt like a normal match for me, but I do need to touch up on some aspects of my game for the next round.
“Compared to how I played the last time I was here, I feel that I am much calmer now and more mature to handle any kind of pressure, especially in a place like this with home fans cheering me on,” he told reporters.
However, the other Malaysian men’s singles player, Ng Tze Yong did not make it past the first round despite his valiant efforts.
The youngster lost to higher-ranked Lu Guang Zu from China 21-16, 21-23, 21-18 in what was a display of perseverance in front of his home crowd.
Tze Yong needed minor medical treatment to what seemed to be his hip area, but still pushed on. Towards the final points, he clearly had the wind knocked out but kept his fighting spirit.
Another big name that made it to the next round was world number two Kento Momota after he got a walkover from Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen.
Second seed women’s shuttler Tai Tzu Ying won against Belgium’s Lianne Tan 21-13, 21-9, and India’s P. V. Sindhu defeated Pornpawee Chochuwong from Thailand 21-13, 21-17.
It was a disappointment for Danish shuttler Rasmus Gemke as he had to retire from an injury during his match against Indonesian Shesar Hiren Rhustavito.
Meanwhile, mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Valeree Siow took down Japanese duo Yuki Kaneko-Misaki Matsumoto 21-16, 14-21, 21-10 to enter the second round tomorrow.
National top men’s doubles team Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik beat Akira Koga-Taichi Saito of Japan 21-18, 21-19, while 10th seed women’s pair Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan defeated China’s Liu Xuan Xuan-Xia Yu Ting 22-20, 21-14.
Doubles pair Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing also beat Ireland’s Kate Frost-Moya Ryan 21-12, 21-5.
Those that failed to progress into the next round were mixed doubles pair Soong Joo Ven-Goh Liu, who lost to German pair Jones Ralfy Jansen-Linda Efler 21-17, 21-18 and Hoo Pang Ron-Toh Ee Wei, who lost to China’s Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong 21-17, 21-18.
Also out was men’s doubles duo Boon Xin Yuan-Wong Tien Ci after losing to He Ji Ting-Zhou Hao Dong of China 21-10, 21-12, and Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub Azriyn-Lim Khim Wah who lost to Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh-Kittinupong Kedren 15-21, 21-14, 21-13.
Women’s doubles pair Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien were also taken down by Indonesia’s Valencia Dwijayanti Gani-Ribka Sugiarto 21-18, 21-17. – The Vibes, June 29, 2022
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