PARIS: Malaysian professional men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia ousted France’s top player Toma Junior Popov to advance to the quarterfinals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The world number seven, who had to contend with the strong support for Popov from the home crowd at Porte de La Chapelle Arena, secured a straight-sets victory, 21-13, 24-22, in 43 minutes.
This result is better than his performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he lost to China’s Chen Long in the last 16.
The 26-year-old will face a tough challenge against world number three from Denmark, Anders Antonsen, who is also his friend, in the quarterfinals today.
“It was a tough game, especially in the second set as I was against the crowd, but I just tried to be calm and focus on the game. I am very happy to advance to the quarterfinals because in the last edition, I lost in the round of 16, so this is a breakthrough for me.
“Against Antonsen, it will definitely be tough because our last meeting (at the Malaysia Masters) was tough too. Especially in the Olympics, everyone will be excited and more focused, so hopefully we will play a great game tomorrow (Aug 2),” he said.
Antonsen, who received a bye in the last 16 as the fourth seed, has had an extra day of rest compared to Zii Jia.
Zii Jia, the 2021 All England champion, advanced to the knockout stage as the Group G champion after defeating world number 70 Viren Nettasinghe from Sri Lanka on Sunday and Spain’s Pablo Abian, who is competing in his fifth Olympics since the 2008 Beijing edition, on Wednesday.
Popov topped Group H after pulling off an upset over Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting on Wednesday. – BERNAMA
