First-round exit again for Zii Jia or Naraoka in All-England?

PETALING JAYA: Who will lose in the men’s singles first round again – Lee Zii Jia or Kodai Naraoka of Japan?

Both players will clash in the opening round of the All-England starting in Birmingham today and are bent on making amends after losing in their respective opening round of the French Open in Paris last week.

The world No. 10 Zii Jia lost to unheralded Magnus Johannesen of Denmark while Naraoka went down to Chico Aura of Indonesia.

On paper, Zii Jia has a poor record against the world No. 6 Japanese, having won only one of their four meetings in the last one year.

He lost to Naraoka at last year’s Malaysia Open and China Open and this year’s Indian Open.

The good news is that the only win by the Malaysian came at last year’s All-England in the quarter-finals.

Zii Jia has enjoyed a good run in the All-England so far by winning the title in 2021 and finishing in the semis of the 2020 and 2022 editions.

If Zii Jia can rise to the occasion and win against Naraoka, he will play the winner of the match between former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore and Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong, which is equally tough.

World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark will also be out to erase his disappointment in France when he takes on K. Srikanth of India in the first round.

He went down to Wang Tzu-wei of Taiwan in the second round last week.

Zii Jia was the last Malaysian winner in the prestigious tournament while the men’s doubles title was last won by Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong in 2007.

We have never won in the women’s singles and doubles while in the mixed doubles, David Choong partnered England’s June White to win the 1953 edition.