PETALING JAYA: Malaysian badminton ace Lee Zii Jia stormed into the Malaysia Masters 2024 final by beating Hong Kong’s Angus Ng 21-15, 21-17 in the semi-final tonight.
He will meet world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, who is hungry for his first title of the year after winning the World Tour final in December.
Axelsen defeated China’s Lu Guangzu 21-6, 21-13 in the other semi-final match today.
Zii Jia, ranked world No 10, described himself as being “bruised and battered” after a hard fought 83-minute quarter-final battle yesterday against Dane Anders Antonsen.
He was seen to be controlling his pace to avoid tiring himself out.
At the Thai Open last weekend, Zii Jia beat Angus, who is world No. 24 in the final in straight games of 21-11, 21-10.
Both players started off the match with long rallies in a move to tire each other out, but fifth seeded Zii Jia got the better of his opponent by taking an 11-6 lead in nine minutes. Egged on by the vociferous home crowd, he took the first game 21-15 in 18 minutes.
In the second game, Angus took an 8-4 lead in eight minutes after forcing Zii Jia into long rallies before going for the kill. Angus led 11-9 during the break after 14 minutes with the Malaysian showing signs of injury in his leg.
Zii Jia was seen limping and fighting back after the restart but Angus controlled the game to take a 17-13 lead. However, the tenacious Zii Jia took eight points in a row to win 21-17 in 22 minutes to enter his first-ever Malaysia Masters final tomorrow.
Planning to be revitalised
Zii Jia said tomorrow’s final “means a lot to me because it’s on home ground and I have never made (any World Tour event) final in Malaysia”, Bernama reported.
Asked about how he would fare against Axelsen, he said: “I don’t think that far. I just want to calm down, have a good rest, a good meal, refresh and be revitalised for tomorrow. As long as there are no serious injuries, I will give it my best shot.”
Epic showdown, says Axelsen
Axelsen’s victory over Guangzu was his sixth win in as many matches against the world No. 19.
He promised an epic showdown tomorrow as he bids to become the first European to win the Malaysia Masters title twice after his 2018 triumph.
Axelsen, the current Olympic champion, said both he and Zii Jia have their own reasons for wanting to win the Super 500 crown.
“Come tomorrow, it’s mano a mano (fight directly) and we’ll see who wins. I am just really happy about being in the final and I don’t feel any pressure whatsoever, just enjoying it on court,” he said.
The Dane has the better head-to-head record against Zii Jia, having won six of their nine encounters, including one at the Thomas Cup group stage last month.
Zii Jia’s best-ever achievement in the Malaysia Masters was a semi-final appearance in 2020 when he went down to eventual champion Kento Momota of Japan. Zii Jia also reached the quarter-finals in 2019.
Two other Malaysians, newlyweds Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai, have advanced to tomorrow’s mixed doubles final against Indonesians Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas Mentari. - FMT
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