KUALA LUMPUR: After suffering two successive defeats in tournaments, the country’s top men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia returned to winning ways by defeating Japan’s Kodai Naraoka and advancing to the second round of the 2024 All England badminton championships today.
Zii Jia, ranked 10th in the world, outclassed the world number six Japanese player 21-12, 21-19 in straight sets in the opening round of the Super 1000 tournament at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.
However, the match was not all smooth sailing for Zii Jia.
With only one point required to secure victory in the second game, Zii Jia who was leading by eight points, conceded seven straight points to allow Naraoka to fight back to 20-19 from 20-12.
In four encounters against Naraoka previously, the Malaysian only won once, incidentally at last year’s All England quarter-finals, but suffered defeats in both meetings after that – at the 2023 China Open first round and 2024 India Open quarter-finals.
Naraoka also won their first match in the 2023 Malaysia Open first round.
In the second round on Thursday, Zii Jia is set to face Singapore’s 2021 world champion Low Kean Yew, who ousted Hong Kong’s Angus Ng 21-12, 21-17. - FMT
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