PARIS: The Malaysian badminton camp’s first gold medal hope at the 2024 Paris Olympics went up in smoke.
Professional men’s singles player Lee Zii Jia went down 14-21, 15-21 to reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the semi-finals at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena, today.
The 26-year-old Zii Jia and Kunlavut, 23, fought closely in the beginning, before the Thai shuttler took off with his ‘sting smashes.’
Kunlavut continued the domination in the second game, while Zii Jia’s attempt for chase didn’t materialise after after a 50-minute battle.
Zii Jia advanced to the semi-finals after beating world number three of Denmark, Anders Antonsen 21-17, 21-15 on Friday, while Kunlavut stunned Chinese world number one Shi Yu Qi with a 21-12, 21-10 straight sets win.
During his debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games, Zii Jia lost to the Chinese champion Chen Long in the last 16 stage.
No Malaysian shuttlers managed to get past through the semi-finals in the Olympics for the second consecutive edition, since winning three silver medals in the Rio 2016 edition.
In Paris 2024, Malaysia had three representatives in the semi-finals, but none managed to advance to finals.
Men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik lost to top seeds Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang of China, while women’s doubles Pearly Tan M. Thinaah went down to Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan,. another Chinese top pair.
