-AP
PETALING JAYA: Shuttler Lee Zii Jia (pic) moved into the men's singles second round of the Hong Kong Open after beating China's Zhao Junpeng 21-17, 21-16 at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Kowloon on Wednesday (Sept 13).
It was sweet revenge for world No. 16 Zii Jia as he suffered an agonising defeat at the hands of world No. 31 Junpeng in the third round of the World Championships last year in Tokyo.
The independent player will next play Taiwan's world No. 37 Lee Chia-hao for a place in the last eight.
The Taiwanese, who was promoted from the qualifiers, stunned top seed and newly crowned China Open champion Viktor Axelsen 21-16, 21-10 in another first round match.
Based on the head-to-head record, Zii Jia and Chia-hao are evenly matched with one win each in their past two meetings in senior international competitions.
Chia-hao toppled Zii Jia in the German Open before the latter came out on top in the Swiss Open in March.
