Zii Jia faces tricky clash against Hong Kong’s Angus Ng in All-England opener

PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia will face Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long in his first round match in the All-England from March 11-16 in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Based on the draw released on Tuesday (March 4), world No. 7 Zii Jia will need to be on his toes from the start in the prestigious tourney against world No. 20 Angus, who has beaten the independent player four times in their past six meetings.

If the national No. 1 overcomes Angus, he will take on the winner of the all-Singaporean clash between 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew and Jason Teh in the second round.

Zii Jia could go up against China’s world No. 1 Shi Yuqi if he makes it into the last eight.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s other representative Leong Jun Hao, who will be making his debut in the competition, has a tough task against Indonesia’s world No. 3 and defending champion Jonatan Christie in his opening match.

Despite being lower ranked, world No. 26 Jun Hao holds a slight advantage over Christie based on their head-to-head records as he has upstaged the latter twice in their past three encounters.

If the 25-year-old manages to pull off another upset, he will play either India’s Lakshya Sen or Japan’s Koki Watanabe in the second round.