PETALING JAYA: Professional singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia finally has something to smile about after advancing to the second round of the US Open on Wednesday.
The Malaysian kept his campaign alive with a 21-15, 21-17 victory over Vietnam’s Nguyen Hai Dang in the opening round at the Titan Gymnasium, California State University in Fullerton.
He will next face India’s S. Srikanth, who eased past compatriot Saneeth Dayanand 21-14, 21-12.
Since returning from injury at the Thailand Open last month, Zii Jia had failed to progress beyond the opening round of the main draw in any tournament.
He suffered an early defeat to Israel’s Daniil Dubovenko in Bangkok before another disappointing exit at the Australian Open earlier this month, where he lost to Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao despite coming through the qualifying rounds.
The same fate befell him again at last week’s Macau Open, where he was beaten by Indonesia’s Pradishka Bagas.
A place in the quarter-finals would provide a timely boost to Zii Jia’s confidence, having last reached the last eight at the Thailand Masters in January.
Also through to the second round was fellow Malaysian professional Cheam June Wei.
The 29-year-old defeated Taiwan’s Ting Yen-chen 21-18, 21-18 to set up a clash against Israel’s Misha Zilberman.
