PARIS: Malaysian professional men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia easily cleared his Paris 2024 Olympics group stage to advance to the knockout phase as expected at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena today.
The 2021 All England champion beat Spain’s world number 62 Pablo Abian, 21-10, 21-13 after 34 minutes in the Group G match to advance to the round of 16.
Throughout the match, Zii Jia faced little trouble from the 39-year-old Spaniard, who is competing in his fifth Olympics since the Beijing 2008 edition.
Zii Jia, the world number seven, began his campaign with a 21-14, 21-12 win against world number 70 Viren Nettasinghe of Sri Lanka on Sunday.
However, Zii Jia’s real challenge is set to begin in the round of 16, as he will likely face Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia, barring any upsets in the Group H fixtures later.
In his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, Zii Jia was defeated by China’s Chen Long in the round of 16.
Zii Jia now hopes to better his Tokyo Olympics results as he faces the Group H champion, to be decided after the last match between Ginting and host country player Toma Junior Popov.
“He (Abian) put pressure on me at the start, but I managed to handle it well. Now that I have advanced to the Olympics last 16 again, I hope this year will bring better results for me.
“Tomorrow’s game will definitely be tougher as I know my head-to-head record against Ginting is not good (1 win, 5 losses), so it will be a tough game” he said.
On the chances of Junior Popov creating an upset against Ginting to advance, Zii Jia said anything is possible on the Olympic stage.
“I think whoever I meet tomorrow, it will be a tough match. Popov will be playing on home ground, so he will definitely be more energetic, spirited and confident than usual,” he said.
