PETALING JAYA: Men's singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia made a winning start in the Indonesian Open on Tuesday (June 4).
The independent player beat Hong Kong's world No. 21 Angus Ng Ka Long 21-17, 21-16 in the first round at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta.
It was Zii Jia's sixth win over Angus in 10 meetings and extended his unbeaten record against him this year to four matches.
The Thailand Open champion also received another boost after moving up two rungs to No. 7 in the latest world rankings.
Zii Jia will next face either China's Weng Hongyang or India's Kiran George for a place in the last eight.
Meanwhile, women's doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah also reached the second round after edging Taiwan's Sung Shuo-yun-Yu Chien-hui 21-19, 22-20.
Pearly-Thinaah will next take on either homesters Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti or Thailand's Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai.
It was all over though for mixed doubles pairs Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei and Malaysian Masters winners Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei lost 13-21, 15-21 to South Korea's reigning world champions Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yu-jung, while Soon Huat-Shevon went down fighting 21-16, 17-21, 10-21 to Hong Kong's Reginald Lee-Ng Tsz Yau.
