PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia will need to be razor sharp from the start in the Orleans Masters after he was drawn against tricky Taiwanese Chi Yu-jen in the first round.
Zii Jia will be making his competitive return in the tourney from March 4-9 in France after recovering from an ankle ligament injury that he sustained during the World Tour Finals last December.
The world No. 7 independent player, who is the top seed in Orleans, will be out to get off to a good start but will not have it easy against world No. 30 Yu-jen.
The Taiwanese has punched above his weight before by upstaging the likes of Thailand’s reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn, world No. 9 teammate Chou Tien-chen and India’s world No. 10 Lakshya Sen and will be no pushover.
Zii Jia also met Yu-jen in the first round in the tournament in 2017 and won.
Another victory will see the 26-year-old play either Japan’s Koo Takahashi or a qualifier in the second round.
If Zii Jia clears his early hurdles, he could take on world No. 18 Frenchman Toma Popov in the last eight.
Zii Jia will be competing for the first time under new coach Yeoh Kay Bin and will be out to make a good impression ahead of the All-England from March 11-16 in Birmingham.
Meanwhile, Malaysia will also be represented by Justin Hoh and Cheam June Wei in the men’s singles in Orleans.
Justin will take on Frenchman Arnaud Merkle in the qualifying round while June Wei will meet Japan’s Riku Hatano.
In the women’s singles, K. Letshanaa will be the sole Malaysian in action and will also start from the qualifying round against Denmark’s Amalie Schulz.
