Zii Jia-Momota quarter-finals clash on the cards

Not going down: Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen will most likely play world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore as early as the second round. — AFP

PETALING JAYA: Lee Zii Jia and Japanese ace Kento Momota are headed for a mouthwatering clash in the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Open from June 28-July 3.

Zii Jia (No. 6) and Momota (No. 2) have been placed in the bottom half of the draw and will meet if they justify their respective seedings in the early rounds.

The other seeded players in the bottom half are Denmark’s world No. 3 Anders Antonsen and India’s Thomas Cup winner Lakshya Sen (No. 9).

Meanwhile, Denmark’s Tokyo Olympics champion Viktor Axelsen has been placed in the top half of the draw along with Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen (No. 4), Singapore’s reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew (No. 10) and Indonesians Anthony Ginting (No. 6) and Jonatan Christie (No. 8).Malaysian fans will be looking forward to the match between the home favourite and Momota as the two have established a strong rivalry and have dished out several entertaining matches in the past.

Their last encounter was in the Thomas Cup finals in Bangkok last month where the Malaysian came out on top in style against the Japanese.

Zii Jia also beat Momota in the quarter-finals of the All-England in March.

Momota has been struggling for form this year while Zii Jia has never been in such consistent form in his career.

But Momota can gain inspiration from his last match against Zii Jia in Malaysia where he emerged victorious in the 2020 Malaysian Masters.

The 27-year-old Japanese still holds the advantage in their head-to-head record as he has won eight and lost only four times.

Zii Jia, on the other hand, will be out to win in front of his passionate fans and this could lead to another thrilling encounter.To set up this appealing clash, the 24-year-old first needs to overcome Frenchman Toma Junior Popov in the first round and either Indonesia’s Shesar Hiren or Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke in the second round.

Momota too has to be careful to avoid any upsets when he opens his campaign against Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen and then plays either Dutchman Mark Caljouw or Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long next.

The draw has also thrown up another interesting match-up between Axelsen and Kean Yew as early as the second round.

The Singaporean has improved by leaps and bounds after training with Axelsen in Dubai and stunned the Olympic champion en route to his historic World Championship win in Huelva, Spain last year.

But Kean Yew’s form has dropped after that euphoric victory and it will be interesting to see if he can rediscover it against the consistent Dane.