World Tour Finals: Zii Jia, Aaron-Wooi Yik assured of semis spot

PETALING JAYA: It was double joy for Malaysia when both men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia and men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik claimed their second wins in the World Tour Finals to almost certainly earn their spots in the semi-finals.

World No. 8 Zii Jia pulled off a stunning 21-14, 21-19 victory over world No. 2 Dane Anders Antonsen in Group A on Thursday (Dec 12) a day after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen also in straight games.

The independent player will next take on China’s Li Shifeng in his last group match on Friday (Dec 13).

“It’s always tough to play against Antonsen. He had a good run of form after the Paris Olympics (in August),” Zii Jia told the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

“Although it was a win in straight games for me, the intensity on court was very high. I played well these two days and I’m satisfied with my performance so far.”

Meanwhile, world No. 5 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik fought hard to beat Indonesia’s world No. 4 Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto 19-21, 21-14, 21-15 in Group B.

Aaron-Wooi Yik also came out on top over China’s He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu in three games a day earlier and now have a golden opportunity to make it into the last four for the first time in the Finals.