PETALING JAYA: Lee Zii Jia has little time to dwell on his early exit from the Australian Open as he turns his attention to next week’s Macau Open.
Zii Jia, who will be making his first appearance at the Macau Open from June 16-21, has been drawn against Indonesia’s third seed Moh Zaki Ubaidillah in the opening round.
It will be the first meeting between the Malaysian and the world No. 35.
Earlier, the Paris Olympics bronze medallist saw his Australian Open campaign end in the first round after losing 13-21, 22-24 to Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao. The defeat also dashed Zii Jia’s hopes of repeating his 2024 triumph, when he beat Chia-hao in the semi-finals before going on to lift the title.
His coach, Liew Daren, admitted he had hoped to see Zii Jia go further in Sydney and continue building his confidence, but was pleased that his player came through the tournament without injury.
“First of all, it’s about confidence. Of course, I hoped he could go as far as possible in the tournament. But the most important thing is that he remains injury-free. That’s the main priority,” said Daren.
Fellow singles shuttler Justin Hoh will continue his campaign in Sydney when he takes on Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen in the second round. Justin advanced after beating India’s Kiran George 21-19, 14-21, 21-15 in a 62-minute match.
However, Eogene Ewe fell short of reaching the second round despite putting up a strong fight against Hong Kong’s eighth seed Lee Cheuk Yiu before going down 21-18, 10-21, 15-21.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Yin will face a stern test against Thailand’s third seeds Ruttanapak Oupthong-Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat in the second round.
The mixed doubles pair advanced after beating home pair Andika Ramadiansyah-Nozomi Shimizu 21-15, 21-16 in the first round yesterday.
Also through were youngsters Loo Bing Kun-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan, who thrashed Germany’s Calvin Devereux-Desiree Toepffer 21-1, 21-3. They will next take on top seeds Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping of China.
Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing will next face Hong Kong’s Chan Yin Chak-Ng Tsz Yau, who upset reigning Asian champions Kim Jae-hyeon-Jang Ha-jeong of South Korea 21-18, 21-16.
The Malaysians reached the second round after defeating Australia’s Michael Owen-Gronya Somerville 21-17, 21-14.
