Easy does it: Lee Zii Jia clears the first round of the World Championships in Tokyo. - AP
PETALING JAYA: World No. 5 Lee Zii Jia stormed into the men's singles second round of the World Championships with a one-sided win over Brice Leverdez of France in Tokyo on Monday (Aug 22).
Zii Jia hardly raised sweat in his 21-9, 21-13 win in his opening match that lasted 39 minutes.
The Malaysian fifth seed will play Bernardo Atilano of Portugal in the second round on Wednesday (Aug 24) and should reach the third round without any problems.
Meanwhile, another independent player Liew Daren’s campaign came to an early when he was eliminated by Olympic Games champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
Axelsen, the top seed, secured a 21-16, 21-12 win over Daren in a 42-minute first round match.
