KUALA LUMPUR – Men’s singles defending champion Lee Zii Jia faced first round elimination in the 2023 Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) last night to join the big list of Malaysian shuttlers returning early.
The 25-year-old Kedahan, who was expecting to return to his top form, went down to world number 17, Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong 19-21, 16-21 after a 39-minute battle at the Sheikh Rashid bin Hamdan Indoor Hall of the Al Nasr Club.
The Hong Kong shuttler will be challenged by Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan, who ousted Nepal’s Prince Dahal 21-7, 21-13, in the second round, later today.
World number four Zii Jia started the year on a low with early elimination at the Malaysia Open, India Open, Indonesia Masters and German Open, but showed hope after advancing to the semi-finals of All England and Swiss Open recently.
Meanwhile, reigning men’s doubles World Champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik cleared their first-round obstacle against world number 10 Indonesian pair, Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin 19-21, 21-19, 22-20.
In the second round, the world number two set to take on Lee Yang-Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei, who defeated Japanese pair Keiichiro Matsui-Yoshinori Takeuchi 21-10, 21-16.
Men’s singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong, women’s singles Goh Jin Wei and S. Kisona, women’s doubles Ng Qi Xuan-Teoh Le Xuan and Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien, as well as Tan Kian Meng-Tan Wee Kiong (men’s doubles) and Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See (mixed doubles) were all first-round casualties in Dubai. – Bernama
