PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia (pic) looks to have secured his spot in the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou next month despite the first-round exit at the China Masters.
Zii Jia, who is sixth in the Race to Hangzhou, can breathe a sigh of relief as the two shuttlers below him, Japan’s Koki Watanabe and China’s Li Shifeng, also crashed out in the opening round in Shenzhen yesterday.
World No. 7 Zii Jia was sent packing early after No. 17 Lakshya Sen of India defeated him 21-14, 13-21, 21-13 in the opening round at the Shenzhen Gymnasium.
But with Watanabe falling to Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen and Shifeng losing to Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi, projected points calculations see Zii Jia earning his ticket to the Finals from Dec 11-15.
After missing the cut for the past two editions of the Finals, Zii Jia feels confident he will be competing in Hangzhou next month.
“This year is the best chance for me to qualify, I’m in a good position so fingers crossed I will make it,” said Zii Jia.
The fixture against Lakshya was a rematch of the Paris Olympics bronze medal match which Zii Jia won, but Lakshya got his revenge this time as he leads their head-to-head with five wins out of seven meetings.
Zii Jia admitted that Lakshya had gotten the better of him this time.
“As you can see, he played quite well today and had a lot of defensive plays from him. He deserved to win today.
“I have things I need to go back and work on, especially on my unforced errors,” said Zii Jia.
Malaysia’s other men’s singles representative, Leong Jun Hao, also ended his run early in Shenzhen as Japan’s Takuma Obayashi won the opening round match 21-12, 21-11.
The 25-year-old could not maintain his stellar form displayed last week at the Japan Masters, where he took down higher-ranked players on his way to the final and finished as runner-up.
In the men’s doubles, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi also exited in the opening round after second seed Danish pair Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen defeated them 22-24, 21-18, 21-15.
FIRST ROUND RESULTS
(Malaysians only)Men’s singles: Lakshya Sen (Ina) bt Lee Zii Jia (Mas) 21-14, 13-21, 21-13; Takuma Obayashi (Jpn) bt Leong Jun Hao (Mas) 21-12, 21-11.
Men’s doubles: Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Den) bt Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 22-24, 21-18, 21-15.
Women’s doubles: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (Mas) bt Ding Keyun-Wang Yiduo (Chn) 21-16, 21-14.
Mixed doubles: Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin (Mas) bt Liu Kuang-heng-Jheng Yu-chieh (Tpe) 21-17, 21-12; Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien (Mas) bt Koceila Mammeri-Tania Mammeri (Alg) 21-15, 21-13; Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) bt Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing (Mas) 21-18, 21-11.
