[UPDATED] Zii Jia advances into round of 16 at World Championships

KUALA LUMPUR – National shuttler Lee Zii Jia did not break a sweat as he moved into the round of 16 of the World Championships after defeating Bernardo Atilano of Portugal 21-9, 21-13 at the Metropolitan Gymnasium in Tokyo today.

World no. 5 Zii Jia controlled the match, taking the first set in under 20 minutes. 139th ranked Atilano’s efforts to mount a comeback were unsuccessful in the second set.

Zii Jia will play China’s Zhao Jun Peng next after he defeated 2021 World Championships silver medallist Srikanth Kidambi from India,21-9, 21-17.

Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games women’s doubles champions Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan also made it to the next round after winning against India’s Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela 21-8, 21-17.

“I think we started off well but in the second set when we were leading, we lost focus, which broke our consistency. We need to improve that for our next match,” Pearly said after the match.

Pearly-Thinaah had also played against the Indian pair three times before, most recently was the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Thinaah admitted that the Indian pair have been difficult opponents to beat.

“Their game has improved from our previous meetings but we prepared well for today’s match," she said.

The 11th seed duo will face 5th seed Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida from Japan tomorrow after they beat Canada’s Catherine Choi-Josephine Wu, 21-17, 21-9.

In a twisted game of fate, national men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik checked into the Round of 16 only to meet countrymen Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani tomorrow.

Earlier, Aaron-Wooi Yik defeated Taiwanese Lu Ching Yao-Yang Po Han, 22-21-18, while Sze Fei-Izzuddin overcame Irish pair Joshua Magee-Paul Reynolds, 21-13, 21-12.

“Our opponents were stronger than us. We had to be tricky with our shots and be more tactical,” Aaron said.

Wooi Yik added that this was close although the Malaysian pair had won all their encounters before.

“We never had it easy with them,” Wooi Yik added.

At the same time, in mixed doubles, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie defeated England’s Gregory Mairs-Jenny Moore  21-13, 21-18 and will meet Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue of France in the next round.

However, the journey ended for their compatriots – men’s doubles pair Ong Yew Sin-Teoh Ee Yi as well as Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong, women’s doubles pair Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing, and women’s singles shuttler Soniia Cheah – following their defeat in the Round of 32. – The Vibes, August 24, 2022