KUALA LUMPUR: National professional men’s singles shuttler, Lee Zii Jia, lived up to expectations as he stormed to the second round of the Denmark Open 2023 in Odense on Wednesday.
However, the world number 11 Zii Jia had to dig deep as he came from behind to oust Belgian shuttler, Julien Carraggi, 19-21, 21-15, 21-10, in the opening round of the tournament held in Jyske Bank Arena.
A tricky journey lies ahead for the newly-crowned Arctic Open 2023 champion as he will be involved in a mouthwatering clash against top seed and home favourite, Viktor Axelsen in the next round.
The world number one Axelsen booked a place in the second round by outplaying his compatriot, Magnus Johannesen, 21-7, 21-9. In the meantime, national mixed doubles duo, Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei also made it to the second round as they took 42 minutes to dispose home pair, Mathias Thyrri-Amalie Magelund, 21-15, 23-21.
Fifth seeds, Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai await the Malaysian duo next after the Thai pair defeated Marcus Ellis-Lauren Smith of England, 17-21, 21-15, 21-19. Meanwhile, it was the end of the road for independent women’s singles shuttler, Goh Jin Wei and national women’s doubles pair, Anna Cheong Ching Yik-Teoh Mei Xing.
Jin Wei lost to fifth seeds He Bing Jiao of China, 11-21, 10-21, while Anna-Mei Xing succumbed to sixth seeds Zhang Shu Xian-Zheng Yu, also from China, 18-21, 14-21. – BERNAMA
