Fired-up Zii Jia crushes Anders to reach Olympics semis, plays Kunlavut next

PETALING JAYA: Men's singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia has set up a showdown against Thailand's world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the semi-finals of the Paris Olympics after sending Denmark's world No. 3 Anders Antonsen packing.

The world No. 7 Zii Jia secured a commanding 21-17, 21-15 win over Antonsen in the last eight at Adidas Arena in Port de la Chapelle on Friday (Aug 2).

Zii Jia was in control from start to finish as he came away with his fourth win in nine meetings with the Dane.

The independent player was pleased with his performance.

"I'm quite happy with my performance. I was surprisingly calm in such a big match while it seemed like Antonsen wanted to win too much and ended up making many unforced errors," said Zii Jia in a post match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

"This is the Olympics and everyone wants to win and it depends on who can stay calm and handle all sorts of situations especially the pressure."

Zii Jia will now take on Kunlavut in the last four after the Thai stunned China's world No. 1 Shi Yuqi 21-12, 21-10 in another quarter-final tie.

Yuqi was one of the favourites for the gold but had no answers against the 23-year-old, who played brilliantly to cause the biggest upset in the competition.

On facing Kunlavut, Zii Jia said: "My head-to-head record against him is not very good and he is a world champion."

"He has beaten the top seed and he is definitely on his best form and full of confidence. I have to prepare myself well and let's see how it goes."

It could be a close encounter based on the head-to-head records as Zii Jia and Kunlavut have both beaten each other four times in their past eight meetings.

Meanwhile, India's Lakshya Sen also made it into the semi-finals after a hard fought 19-21, 21-15, 21-12 win over Taiwan's Chou Tien-chen.

Lakshya will face Denmark's defending champion Viktor Axelsen next. Axelsen pulled off a 21-9, 21-17 win against Singapore's 2021 world title winner Loh Kean Yew in another semi-final win.