Olympic-bound Zii Jia captures Australian Open title after beating Kodai

PETALING JAYA: Top men’s shuttler Lee Zii Jia has bagged his second title of the year after beating Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the Australian Open final on Sunday (June 16). World No. 8 Zii Jia, who won the Thailand Open this year, blew hot and cold en route to taking down world No. 6 Naraoka 21-19,...

Run in Australian Open will set Aaron-Kang in good stead for gold bid at Asian Junior Championships

PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing have a good opportunity to gain valuable experience before the Asian Junior Championships when they compete in the Australian Open starting today in Sydney. Aaron-Khai Xing, who are Malaysia’s best bet to win gold in the Asian junior meet from June 28-July 7 in Yogyakarta will be...

Hendrawan keeps Tze Yong’s indomitable spirit up

PETALING JAYA: Accept the defeat, move on and use it as a motivation to work harder. This was the advice given by national men’s singles badminton coach Hendrawan to Ng Tze Yong after the latter crashed out in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. World No. 21 Tze Yong suffered a narrow 21-17, 24-26, 19-21 defeat to...

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...

Pearly-Thinaah fall in the first round

PETALING JAYA: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah suffered a blow ahead of the World Championships from Aug 21-27 in Copenhagen after crashing out in the first round of the Australian Open. The duo went down fighting 20-22, 21-17, 17-21 to China’s world No. 6 Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu in the women’s doubles event at Quaycentre in Sydney yesterday. Pearly-Thinaah held...