PETALING JAYA: Lee Zii Jia proved once again that he remains a bogeyman for Christo Popov after knocking out the Frenchman to book his place in the Arctic Open semi-finals.
Popov came into the tournament as the world No. 2 and second seed, while Zii Jia was simply looking to see how far he could go after struggling for form in recent months.
But despite going into the match as the underdog, Zii Jia was clearly the better player as he won 21-11, 21-16 in just 38 minutes at the Energia Arena in Vantaa on Friday (Oct 9).
The victory also maintained Zii Jia’s perfect record against Popov, having beaten him in their previous two meetings, including at the 2024 Arctic Open.
Zii Jia will next face either China’s Hu Zhe’an or his close friend Anders Antonsen of Denmark in the semi-finals.
