The mojo’s back: Lee Zii Jia secured a 21-19, 21-15 win over Nhat Nguyen of Ireland in the second round of the Swiss Open in Basel. — Reuters
PETALING JAYA: Lee Zii Jia continued from where he left off from the All-England as he stormed into the quarter-finals of the Swiss Open in Basel yesterday.
The world No. 4 secured a 21-19, 21-15 win over Nhat Nguyen of Ireland in the second round to continue his march with new-found confidence.
The independent shuttler seems to have found his mojo after reaching the semi-finals of the All-England in Birmingham last week and he rode on confidently in the Swiss Open.
Zii Jia had already showed his intent by eliminating newly-crowned All-England champion Li Shifeng 18-21, 21-18, 23-21 in the first round on Wednesday.
Ng Tze Yong, who made it to the quarter-finals in the All England, also advanced to the second round on Wednesday.
The world No. 26 had beaten Soong Joo Ven after the independent shuttler was forced to retire in the third game at 13-4.
Joo Ven, who has been troubled by a knee injury, won the first game 25-23 but Tze Yong came back in the second game to win 21-17 to force the decider.
In a clash of independent shuttlers, Cheam June Wei overcame Liew Daren 21-14, 21-13 to reach the second round.
In the women’s singles, Goh Jin Wei had also advanced to the second round on Wednesday after beating Denmark’s Line Kjaersfeldt 12-21, 21-17, 21-13.
However, former Badminton Association of Malaysia shuttler S. Kisona failed to clear the first round after losing 21-9, 21-16 to Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland.
RESULTS
(Malaysians unless stated)
First round
Men’s singles: Ng Tze Yong bt Soong Joo Ven 23-25, 21-17, 13-4 rtd; Cheam June Wei bt Liew Daren 21-14, 21-13.
Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankyreddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt Boon Xin Yuan-Wong Tien Ci 21-15, 21-18.
Women’s singles: Goh Jin Wei bt Line Kjaersfeldt (Den) 12-21, 21-17, 21-13; Kirsty Gilmour (Sco) bt S. Kisona 21-9, 21-16. Mixed doubles: Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie bt Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva (Ina) 13-21, 21-15, 22-20; Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei bt Nicholas Mueller-Ronja Stern (Swi) 21-11, 21-13; Mark Lamsfuss-Isabel Lohau (Ger) bt Hoo Pang Ron-Teoh Mei Xing 18-21, 21-18, 21-19; Yang Po-hsuan-Hu Ling-fang (Tpe) bt Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing 21-16, 21-16; Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito (Jpn) bt Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See 21-15, 21-19.
Second Round
Men’s singles: Lee Zii Jia bt Ngat Nguyen (Ire) 21-19, 21-15.
Men’s doubles: Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi bt Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura (Jpn) 15-21, 21-13, 21-15.
