KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian professional singles shuttler, Lee Zii Jia missed the chance to defend his title at the 2024 Arctic Open after being knocked out in the quarterfinals last night.
In the tie match at Energia Arena, Vantaa, Finland, the world number four was no match for Japan’s Koki Watanabe, losing 15-21, 21-13, 12-21 in 66 minutes.
The result marked Zii Jia’s third defeat in three meetings against Watanabe.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s top women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah advanced to the semifinals after defeating Taiwan’s Chang Ching Hui-Yang Ching Tun 21-8, 21-18 in just 32 minutes.
Pearly-Thinaah will face a tough fight today against Japan’s second-seeded pair Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi in their bid to reach the final.
National men’s doubles pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun were eliminated by China’s top seeds, Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang in a hard-fought match with scores of 17-21, 21-16, 17-21.
