KUALA LUMPUR: National men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia had to work hard to overcome his compatriot, rising star Justin Hoh, 21-16, 12-21, 21-17 to advance to the second round of the 2024 Japan Masters today.
Zii Jia, the 2024 Paris Olympic bronze medallist, had no problems winning the first game at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium but hit the buffers in the next game before regaining his momentum to take the decider.
The fifth-seeded Zii Jia will face either Japan’s Koo Takahashi or Taiwan’s Su Li Yang in the second round.
In another men’s singles match, Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao also had to slog to get past India’s Lakshya Sen 20-22, 21-17, 21-16 in the opening round.
Jun Hao will face either Indonesian Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo or Japan’s Koki Watanabe next.
National mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Lai Shevon Jemie also needed three games to down Japan’s Yuta Watanabe-Maya Taguchi 18-21, 21-12, 21-14.
In the second round, the third-seeded Malaysians will face China’s Zhou Zi Hong-Yang Jia Yi, who ousted Japan’s Kazuhiro Ichikawa-Misaki Kurashma 21-17, 21-17 in their first-round tie.
There was also good news for Malaysia’s other mixed doubles pair, Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin, when they defeated Japan’s Yuichi Shimogami-Sayaka Hobara 21-18,21-19 to set up a second-round meeting against Indonesia’s Rinoc Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas Mentari.
It was, however, the end of the road for Chen Tan Jie-Toh Ee Wei after they were dumped 15-21, 12-21 by Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran in mixed doubles.
