KUALA LUMPUR – National badminton ace Lee Zii Jia will take on Denmark’s Anders Antonsen in the third round of the World Championships at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen later today.
Zii Jia beat Canada’s Brian Yang in the second round at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen last night to secure his place in the next round.
The world number 13 did not break a sweat as he dominated the Canadian from the start of the match, winning it 21-11, 21-16 in 33 minutes to qualify for the third round of the tournament.
“I’m enjoying the environment over here, and it seems like things are going well for me now in this tournament,” said Zii Jia.
“There hasn’t been any player from my country who has won this title. I would like to win this title, but as I said yesterday, everything is a process, and I need to trust the process and go for it.”
At the same time, Antonsen survived a scare in his second-round match early this morning to beat Zii Jia’s compatriot Ng Tze Yong 24-22, 21-16 in straight sets.
“We both played better in the first set compared to the second set. The intensity was high, and it was very close in the first set. It was important to win the first set.
“In the second set, I tried to keep it as simple as possible and avoid making mistakes,” said the Dane.
Today’s match will be the fifth encounter between Zii Jia and Antonsen, with the Danish player leading the tie with three wins. The last time both players played against each other was in the 2021 World Championships, which Antonsen won.
Meanwhile, the national doubles pair and defending champions Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik were stretched by Denmark’s Lasse Molhede and Jeppe Bay in their second-round encounter.
The world number four pair came back from a set down to beat the Danes 18-21, 21-14, 21-16 and set up a third-round match against Chinese Taipei’s Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin today.
“We are not satisfied with our match today because during the first game, we were not playing up to the mark,” said Aaron.
“The second match was better, but we were a bit fearful because we hadn’t faced this pair before. Losing the first set was a setback, but the communication between Aaron and me was good throughout the match, which was a key factor in securing our win,” Wooi Yik said “In the next round, we will be facing Lee and Wang, and it will be a challenging match. However, we just need to be prepared,” Wooi Yik added. – August 24, 2023