Zii Jia in Japan Masters q-finals after come-from-behind win

PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia fought back after trailing his Taiwanese opponent Su Li-yang to enter the Japan Masters quarter-finals.

The world No. 7 took an hour and two minutes to win his second round fixture 19-21, 21-8, 21-16 against the No. 34 player in Kumamoto on Thursday (Nov 14).

Zii Jia will face Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke or fourth seed Indonesian Jonatan Christie in the quarter-finals on Friday.

Malaysia’s other men’s singles player in the tournament, Leong Jun Hao, also kept his campaign going after taking down higher-ranked Koki Watanabe of Japan in the second round.

Jun Hao, ranked 31st, won 21-10, 16-21, 21-13 in an hour and nine minutes against the No. 11, making it his fourth win against the Japanese player in five meetings.

In the men’s doubles category, world No. 40 Tan Wee Kiong Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub handed an upset to compatriots and eighth-ranked Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani after beating them 21-9, 23-21.

They will face Taiwan’s Chiu Hsiang-chieh-Wang Chi-lin, who stunned Malaysia’s world No. 6 pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik to enter the quarter-finals.

The No. 59 Taiwanese pair won in straight sets against the recent Korean Masters champions, winning 21-11, 21-13 in just 26 minutes.

Mixed doubles duo Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie continued their progress in the tournament as they won 21-19, 21-11 against China’s Zhou Zhihong-Yang Jiayi in the second round, They will take on Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito next.

World No. 25 Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin’s win over seventh seed Indonesians Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas was also an upset, winning 18-21, 24-22, 21-10 to book a meeting with Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran in the quarter-finals.

The road ended for mixed doubles pair Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien as they lost 21-13, 14-21, 16-21 to Presly Smith-Jennie Gai from the United States.