KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 — Professional men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia made a shocking first-round exit at the Japan Open, falling to Alex Lanier of France, in Yokohama today.
Fresh from securing bronze at the Paris Olympics, sixth seed Zii Jia was unable to replicate his recent form as he was sent packing by world No. 29 Lanier 18-21, 13-21 in 41 minutes during the Super 750 tournament at Yokohama Arena.
However, two national men’s doubles pairs, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and Choong Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal Nazri, lived up to expectations to march into the second round.
Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin, eighth seeds, got past home pair Kazuki Shibata-Naoki Yamada with a convincing 21-13, 21-13 win to book a second-round slot against Liu Huang Keng-Yang Po Han.
The unseeded Taiwan pair had earlier prevented an all-Malaysian affair tomorrow after eliminating Low Hang Yee-Ng Eng Cheong, 21-13, 21-17.
Hon Jian-Haikal, on the other hand, came from behind to see off Bjaerne Geiss-Jan Colin Voelker of Germany 12-21, 21-11, 21-16 in 55 minutes.
A daunting task awaits the unseeded Malaysian duo as they will take on second seeds Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto after the Indonesians emerged victorious against China’s Xie Hao Nan-Zeng Wei han, 22-20, 13-21, 21-14.
In women’s singles, professional shuttler Goh Jin Wei failed to advance to the next round, losing to third seed from China, Wang Zhi Yi, 18-21, 10-21.
— Bernama
