Zii Jia’s experience and bravery make the difference in laboured win over Tze Yong

PETALING JAYA: Independent shuttler Lee Zii Jia proved that he is still the country’s No. 1 men’s singles shuttler after storming into the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

Despite his struggles, the world No. 17 Zii Jia rose to the occasion to narrowly triumph 17-21, 26-24, 21-19 over his much-improved former national teammate Ng Tze Yong in a grueling 83-minute quarter-final clash at Quaycentre in Sydney yesterday.

Zii Jia did not start the way he wanted after dropping the first game but he remained composed and went toe-to-toe with Tze Yong before taking the second game 26-24 to force the decider.

In the deciding game, Zii Jia was leading 11-4 but squandered his game points before Tze Yong managed to tie the game to 13-13.

Zii Jia could have capitulated under pressure at 15-18 but fought back to book his semi-final spot.

With the victory, Zii Jia leads their head-to-head record 1-0 as the country’s top two men’s singles shuttlers have never played each other in international tournaments despite being placed in the same half of the draw several times this year.

Tze Yong, however, deserved a pat on the back as he did not give up when the chips were down and his performance proved he is not far behind Zii Jia.

Tze Yong may have lost due to his inexperience but Datuk Tey Seu Bock was pleased with his performance.

“A very good match and credit to both players. The difference between the two players was that Zii Jia had the edge in experience and bravery to get crucial points,” said Seu Bock.

“We will continue working to improve these aspects of Tze Yong’s game.’’

Zii Jia will face China’s rising player Weng Hongyang in the last four today.

The two are level on their head-to-head record as Zii Jia defeated Hongyang in the Asian Championships last April but fell to him in the Singapore Open in June.

Reaching the last four in Australia was Zii Jia’s first semi-final appearance since the Swiss Open in March where he lost 11-21, 14-21 to Koki Watanabe of Japan.

He has suffered six straight preliminary exits in the Asian Championships, Malaysian Masters, Singapore, Indonesian, Korean and Japan Opens.

This is his best showing so far in his third assignment under new coach Wong Tat Meng.

Hopes will beon Zii Jia to bring back a title as he is the last Malaysian standing after national men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik went down fighting 15-21, 17-21 to world No.15 Lu Ching-yao-Yang Po-han of Taiwan.

It was the Taiwan pair’s first win over the Malaysians in five meetings. Malaysians unless stated

Men’s singles: Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) 21-10, 21-16; Lee Zii Jia bt Ng Tze Yong 17-21, 26-24, 21-19; P. Rajawat (Ind) bt K. Srikanth (Ind) 21-13, 21-8; H. S. Prannoy (Ind) bt Anthony Ginting (Ina) 16-21, 21-17, 21-14; Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Ina) 21-16, 16-21, 21-14.

Men’s doubles: Takura Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Erich (Ina) 21-6, 21-16; Lu Ching-yao-Yang Po-han (Tpe) bt Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik 21-15, 21-17; Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin (Tpe) bt Akira Koga-Taichi Saito (Jpn) 24-22, 21-14.

Women’s singles: Zhang Beiwen (US) bt P. V. Sindhu (Ind) 21-12, 21-17; Kim Ga-eun (Kor) bt Yeo Jia Min (Sin) 21-19, 21-18; Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Supanida Katethong (Tha) 21-13, 21-14; Aya Ohori (Jpn) bt Pai Yu-po (Tpe) 21-15, 21-14.

Women’s doubles: Kim So-yeong-Kong Hee-yong (Kor) bt Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard (Tha) 21-9, 21-10; Rena Miyaura-Ayako Sakuramoto (Jpn) bt Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) 21-13, 21-19; Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota (Jpn) bt Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara (Jpn) 15-21, 21-14, 21-15; Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu (Chn) 21-17, 21-14.

Mixed doubles: Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yu-jung (Kor) bt Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet (Hkg) 21-18, 21-9; Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) 21-17, 21-19; Cheng Xing-Chen Fanghui (Chn) bt Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas Mentari (Ina) 21-16, 21-16; Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito (Jpn) bt Kyohei Yamashita-Naru Shinoya (Jpn) 18-21, 21-14, 21-11.